Twin Kitsune Syndrome
by Azaira
Summary: What if the Forbidden Scroll held an incomplete Space-Time Seal that had been devised by the Nidaime Hokage? What if the scroll was glanced over before Mizuki reveals more than an S-Rank Secret? What happens when running is the best option? When there's only one escape from such painful betrayals? What happens when a Lie becomes Truth? Fem!Fox!Naruto
1. Chapter 1

TwiKitSyn - Chapter 1 - Prologue |Warnings!Warnings!Warnings!|

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 _Summary  
What if the Forbidden Scroll held an incomplete Space-Time Seal that had been devised by the Nidaime and Expanded upon by the Yondaime? What if the scroll was glanced over before Mizuki reveals more than an S-Rank Secret? What happens when running is the best option? When there's only one escape from such painful betrayals? What happens when a Lie becomes Truth? Fem!Fox!Naruto_

"Amazing~" _-_ Talking _  
I am thinking about you -_ Thoughts  
 _I'm in your head!_ \- Mental Speak  
 **"Puny Mortal" -** Biju Speak / Jutsu?  
 _ **Is she mentally impaired?**_ \- Biju Thoughts  
 **Rasengan!** \- Jutsu? I'm tempted to go without the  Underlines...

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If one was out among the trees on this moonlit night, they would see a young blonde child running atop branches, jumping from one to another. While this isn't an unusual occurrence within this village, it is strange that the child was obviously crying, having light reflecting off the sparkling tears falling down her face.

The entire day had been one painful event after another for this child.

Later on, when thinking back, it was obviously been a ploy. Every word that despicable man had uttered resounded throughout, over and over, causing the reverberating pain to echo deeper far deeper than it should have. Not even Iruka showing up helped. Even worse, it made everything worse!

 _"You are the Nine-Tailed fox! You are the demon incarnate!"_

While this had shocked the child, ever so deeply. It hadn't been all too hard to believe, considering everything else said. Everything had finally made so much more sense.

Though, it didn't really matter whether it was true or not. No, an existence is just what it is. It can be good or bad, no matter what creature it be. But the fact that the emotional child was believed to be the beast that had nearly flattened Konoha, had struck a deeply painful chord. Still, it was the traitors' words just before breaking an S-Rank law that had truly caused so much emotional turmoil, causing the child to run.

 _"Hahaha! So what if Iruka is here to help. As you can tell, I can easily overpower him! Even if you try, there's NOTHING you could do! You may be fast from running after your dumb pranks, but you know nothing! Your fighting style? All the academy teachers made sure your forms were terrible! Your knowledge? Your books are altered! Most teachers found one way or another to force you out often enough from their classes!_

 _It was SO easy to get everyone helping make sure you'd die as soon as you started fieldwork! I hadn't even needed to coerce anyone! Even Iruka didn't correct your obvious mistakes after moving on in class material! He didn't even explain what you didn't understand when he knew you didn't know! Everything you know or can do is a lie! You are weak! Helpless! You can't do anything!"_

It's almost funny that the two had let the traitor monologue so long, though it had allowed Iruka to recover slightly. Honestly, it's hilarious that nobody else showed up to help during the monologuing, despite it going on for so long. It's insane that Iruka didn't deny his lack of help in the academy!

He had actually tried to help, but had given up! The other teachers had fixed each stance after Iruka did every single time! He'd never even asked why! How could he not notice?! Iruka had seen them. He would have had to have noticed... Right? The mixups had done far more problems than anything, so he probably had! RIGHT?!

It practically felt of betrayal.. No, it was betrayal!

Sadly, the worst part was that Konoha had betrayed itself with such cruel treatment. Not even the child knew, but should the village learn their demon container's heritage, one could only imagine the devastation that would occur! Not that those who did know spent more than a few seconds within a couple meters before disappearing, let alone helping or comforting the lonely abused child.

A child of the Fourth Hokage and an Uzumaki Heiress. However, this was only the beginning. The Uzumaki Heiress was of the purest blood, from the strongest mixtures of Uzumaki and Senju.

Then there was the child's father. Unknown even to himself, he was not just a common orphan. His father and mother were not even civilian, but of noble birth. They were undercover in the Land of Fire outskirts. Both had gone so far as to deceive even their own son, in hopes of avoiding disaster, appearing normal, as well as hoping for him a normal childhood, though with some light training included. Anything but normal - an unknown descendent of Senju Tobirama, Minato Namikaze was one of the greatest lineage within the Senju clan.

It's impossible to imagine that the pariah of Konohagakure held some of the most powerful blood lineage seen within history. A chakra so dense and potent that the most basic of jutsu are impossible to achieve without incredible chakra control, added to this, the strongest of Bijuu was sealed within, enough to rival even a weakened Bijuu.

Not only strong of lineage, blood, chakra, but an innate intelligence. It doesn't show through with such debilitated education. A deliberate endeavor of konoha to stifle the child in any and every way they could. Sabotaged in every sense of the word from birth on.

Growing up had been hard. From birth to six years old, the blonde had been alone. Of course there was a caretaker up until then, but it was basically abuse - not that it was even noticed as such. Even now, thinking back, little of it would be considered as such by the child.

Small meals of terrible quality, sparse bathing, terrible hygienic treatment, little cleaning of a dirty apartment, unwashed clothing, slaps for ill behaviour, rumors, forced separation from even the most basic interactions, and so much more, and yet it was so normal, that the abused child could register it as such. Barely even knowing how to speak properly until the Hokage started visiting at five years old, let alone writing, and barely having any human interaction, the child could barely understand most situations.

Worst of all, nobody had even tried teaching the ignored child until the academy came about. It didn't take long to realize that everyone knew how to read. Everyone. They even spoke almost perfectly. And yet the blue-eyed child couldn't. It was way too embarrassing to ask, and the Hokage never mentioned nor asked about it. Not wanting to be a burden to the Hokage, seeing as he was the only person that would even bother, it just never escaped the child's mouth. Even now, the child was barely capable of even reading half of what others could. Hiragana and Katakana were at least mostly understandable, but there was much in Kanji that just couldn't be deciphered yet.

There was so much, far, far too much that had just now become obvious, and yet so much more was lost upon the blond child. Everyone was against this abused child, their despised demon. Condescending and sneering at the very sight of the small container. Undoubtedly malnourished, abused, and downtrodden, there was little left besides mutilation and death that Konoha had yet to inflict. True she was never outright attacked, but they weren't gentle when kicking her out of stores.

Still, thinking about it, there was jiji - the Hokage - and yet… He.. couldn't be trusted either. All his ninja, all the civilians, everyone about and within Konoha are under his command. Keeping such massive secrets, there was no way he didn't know what was happening in the academy. For every teacher to be doing something, he had to know! He made it out that he was trying to help, even asked if anything was wrong. Had that been a ploy to keep trust in him? No - there really wasn't anyone that could be trusted.

Konoha did not want the demon, and the child realized this.

As fast as possible, the so-called demon ran. As far away as possible. As deep into the strangely empty wooded area as possible. Using skills picked up from pranking, the child hid where the moonlight landed upon the scroll. There was a jutsu in there that could help escape this hell. Despite developing skills to do so, it was impossible to outrun everyone, to just get away. And having stolen an important scroll from the Hokage himself, they were surely going to come.

Unraveling the scroll, the child perused it once more. The first time opening it, blue eyes had traversed every centimeter of paper that had been filled, taking note of every jutsu that could be made sense of, one that might be better to learn than the dreadful.. clones. A few seemed interesting, and some had built upon others. There were several time or space jutsu, the thief didn't know which, maybe both, but a few seemed to build upon others before it. Deep within though, incredible if true, was a solution. Not understanding many of the words, the child settled for the first anyways, since they all looked hard in one way or another.

Having the entirety of Konoha wanting to kill the child, and having finally given them a reason to, it was best to escape. And, really, this was the only way that could be thought of.

It took some time to piece the kanji together, taking note of the two circles on either side of the squiggles that looked like they were made for either hand, as well as many of the known kanji, piecing together how to activate the jutsu took a few minutes.

What it did? Warped Time and Space to send to somewhere else. And 'past' was a key word. How it worked? Many hand-seals laid underneath the squiggles. Something about numbers represented by hand-seals could replace others. They had to be used before placing both hands into place. However, the placement were too far away...

Ignoring any and all other comments within, including the warnings, a twin was created with a single hand-seal. It kneeled on the other side before glancing up at its creator. The two nodded before flowing through the seals shown.

In pain, just wanting to cry and leave as fast as possible, the two went as fast as possible to activate the past escape jutsu. No matter what lay ahead, or behind as it is, would be far better than staying to be killed.

Right on the last hand-seal, they heard someone call out. Scared at being discovered, stopped before they could get away, the two blondes, mirror images of each other, panicked and quickly pressed their hands down into the open circles within the scroll. It was best to leave anyways. Nobody wanted a demon around…

As soon as clone and creator could, they pushed as much chakra as the two could into the scroll, a bloody Iruka hopped down into the small clearing, barely in time to see a bright light engulf his student. His heart froze as the two blue eyed children started screaming in horrifying agony. Another odd light enshrouded the two, a swirling red swirled around each from top to bottom. The new shroud broke the man from shock, allowing him to rush forward calling out the demon-child's name, "NARUE!"

Not an instant later had the violent light and chakra disappeared into the void of darkness without a trace. All that was left was a blank scroll with two motionless children lying on each side. Even as he rushed forward both quickly crumbled into dust.

That night had few mourning. By the next day, the entire village was celebrating. The day after, Konohagakure was left in baffled disbelief, indignant rage, or mourning in despair from the Hokage's declarations. Then fear. A fear that they had accidentally released the beast they all wanted dead. Truly, many felt regret at not being able to save the child, though more from fear of a repeat Bijuu attack.

Not only had Narue disappeared, chakra completely erased, but so had the beast sealed within. Without a link, knowing the location of the final beast needed, a secret group of people delayed their plot. Unable to find their last target, members eventually left or turned upon one another.

By disappearing, Narue, unknowingly, saved the world.

But what happened to her..?

* * *

So this idea came to me from reading several other stories. It's quite a bit different than any of them, but a mixture of several. Obviously I left many unknowns that won't be explained any time soon. My second chapter will come in a couple days, probably after I release one for another of my stories. Or maybe not? Fate shall decide! ..Yes, I'm channeling Neji! Hue...

You have been WARNED! With Warnings! ...Yea.

History repeats itself in various ways. - A little hint for later? :3


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - |Fluff!Warning!|Tears!Warning!|Love!Warning!|This-is-not-a!Warning!|..?..|

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To anyone that could be watching, all they would see is two strangely shaped colors suddenly appearing out in the darkness. However, there was not a single soul nearby. Had there been, and had it been daylight, they would notice that these two figures were living and breathing, and possibly in need of help.

Considering the circumstances, there should have been people surrounding the area. The Hokage should have long since appeared. Anbu should have contained the area. Iruka should still be there… Unfortunately, or fortunately, none of this is, has, or will happen.

Instead, the only out of place sound was two very light snoring sounds.

Light shone through the treetops, showing the obvious signs of day upon two small shaded figures lying within tall grass.

"nnn~" A light moan came from within one of the two bundles of orange cloth.

"unnn~" Another followed the first.

Two pairs of eyes slowly opened at the sound of the second voice. Looking back at each other, both bodies reluctantly sat up, staring at what should be a reflection.

""Cute"" Two distinctly childish voices echoed out, though might have sounded like one from another viewpoint. At the same time, both pairs looked upon the head of the opposite, then at the nine strange waving appendages behind the other unclothed figures. The pointed furry ears upon each head swiveled at the sounds. If they hadn't known any better, let alone thought that the voice heard was their own, either would probably have not reacted. Instead they turned back to looking at each other's eyes once again.

Soon, the reality of what had happened the night before hit hard. Stinging tinged at the corners of their eyes in mirrored fashion, ""so it's true."" Once again, they mirrored their reactions, flinching. However something kept plagueing their thoughts, keeping their feelings from tearing at them.

""Pink/Purple eyes?"" If their childish size wasn't a little expected, the two girls might have remarked upon that instead. Or even the many other vast changes. But everything was off...

The simple difference in their words stroked a chord. Blinking, both opened their mouth, but somehow one was able to actually speak first, holding the other's. "No, they're pink…"

"Eh? But I see purple! They're even slitted, like a cat's!" She pouted, knowing what she was seeing.

"No! Pink! I know what purple is, and your eyes are NOT purple! Wait, MY EYES! Agh, this is so confusing! If you weren't so cute right now, and I hadn't wanted to see all the changes, I'd dispel you!"

The 'pink'-eyed girl pouted, crossing her arms, and looked away. A twitch of her fur-clad ears told her the other girl was getting up and walking around her. Could she hear better now?

"This is just too weird! Why hadn't I known I was the kyuubi? Why hadn't they told me? How could they hide something like this?! W-Why… jiji? WHY?!" Tears started flowing from the standing girl as she pulled one of the still sitting child's tails up and ran a finger over it.

Still sitting, the other child frowned as tears fell down her face as well. "I don't know… But he always treated me so.. so-so, nice! R-Right?"

"Y-Yea! ..But, b-but he never sa-said anything! Wouldn't he tell us? I mean me! Wouldn't he?"

"M-Maybe he -*hic*- h-he was planning to?"

Coming around to the front of the small child that was her clone, Narue took another full look. "This is just too w-weird though. I mean, we - I - really do have nine tails… but why are only two of them red?"

For a moment, the sitting child closed her eyes, sadness at the reality of - "Wait, two red?" She looked at her 'creator' in shock. "You have two blonde tails, the rest are red..."

Narue blinked owlishly, dispelling more tears, then knit her eyebrows together. "No, I have two red tails, and seven blonde. You're my clone, that's what you have, so that's what I have…"

'Clone' Narue looked behind her and saw the difference. Each fluffy tail was casually drifting about, two red and seven blonde, twisting and twirling mockingly. "How? Why are mine different?"

"Huh?" Narue looked behind her to see that the difference was true. She really DID have two blonde and seven red. Each tail easily longer than her own legs, flowing out from the end of her spine. "What the..?"

"And your hair is mostly red, with only two long strands on either side of your PURPLE eyes!" The clone said.

Narue blinked, gathered some of it up in her hands, and looked at her predominately RED hair, which had been blonde before then. Turning back, she saw her 'clone' had mostly long blonde hair with similarly split traces of red on either side of a middle blonde tuft of shorter hair that narrowed into a point just between her eyes.

""Weird"" Both girls mimicked, before giggling. The strangeness taking their minds off the cruelty of recent happenings and truths. It was a welcome distraction. Though the subject still kept their minds from wandering too far from it.

"So I have purple eyes, while you're are pink? And my hair has two blonde strips, like my two blonde tails, while yours are the opposite with red?"

"Yea…" The 'clone' frowned. "And I don't feel like a clone. I feel so much energy too. So much chakra... But it's really weird! Like I'm not quite.. I don't know how to explain it! I just - what are you doing?"

"Kai! ..KAI! ...you're not dispelling!" Narue looked at her 'clone' wide-eyed, which was mimicked by said girl.

"Wait a sec… ow, ..Ow.. nothing, OUWCH! HEY!" 'Clone' Narue rubbed her head where she had been hit, after having poked and pinched herself. After realizing that she wasn't dispelling, and actually feeling pain, she looked back, slightly scared, at Narue. "I'm… not going to dispel?"

A similar look of shock was reflected, "I think you're real… Why don't I feel like before either?" Narue questioned, then pinched herself as well, looking at the red spot that was left behind which then quickly faded to perfectly smooth pale skin. "You're right, I don't feel normal either, but not…"

Turning back to her clone, the two came to a small but stunning revelation. "So you're not my clone anymore? You're real? Really real?"

"I-I think so?"  
"But how?"

"..the scroll?"  
"It had two areas for hands. It needed two, but-"  
"They were either hand, for a single person."  
"But we're two,"  
"So it sent both,"  
"to the past,"  
"turning us into kids?,"  
"and it making you real?"  
"..Does this make us sisters?"

Both girls looked even more shocked at those final words. Breaths held, fox-like ears and tails straightened and stiff, they stared at one another other, hope gathering in their features.

Two young girls, no older than six, most likely not even five, fox ears poking from their heads, nine new furry tails, slitted cat-fox eyes, six black fuzzy whisker-like scars, and abnormally long canine teeth. Both nearly a mirror image of the other, different only in inverse coloured hair, easily siblings in appearance, neither one a clone as first believed. Though both felt strangely different as well

""We can be twins!"" They echoed out, happily as they realized that somehow 'family' had been created for each other. Not just family, but twin sisters! Even if each was literally a copy of the other, born from an accident. A reality Narue had wished for since before they could remember. Though not in the way they had expected, or the type of family imagined, they had still gained a family member.

Coming to their conclusion, they hugged in joy, instinctively wrapping and interlinking their tails about the other's frame. A feeling of warmth neither had ever felt before surged between them. _Family… Finally, I have family!_

Narue flinched at the sound in her head, almost believing it to be her own voice. Her thoughts were still with a more teenage voice, which made the sound strange. The voice she heard was more childlike. _D-Did you say that?_

The other girl had wondered why her 'sister', her supposed 'original', had moved so weirdly, then somehow heard her own voice in her head. Though after a moment she realized that it wasn't her. She hadn't thought those words. She, too, had been thinking with slightly older tones. WIth wide eyes, even as Narue pulled back, she nodded absentmindedly, not really knowing why.

 _We can hear each other's thoughts?!_ Narue nearly squealed within her mind.

 _What?!_ 'clone' Narue responded. _Really?!_

Narue nodded, before thinking strangely, a small frown on her face as she looked around. "Was the grass this tall when we woke up?

Both tailed children looked about at the forest surrounding them. At first it had been _maybe_ a quarter meter tall when they woke up, just over their hips while sitting. The ticklish feeling against their bare bodies wasn't that unpleasant, but strange. Now, it was clearly mid-waist.

"I think so.. Naru-nee?" The blonde-red girl muttered, turning hopefully eyes upon the other.

Slightly dumbfounded at the new name, a look of horror replacing it a moment later as true realization set in about their circumstances. "W-We can't both be named Narue!"

Soon enough, the horror was reflected. "B-But that's my name! I've lived with it my entire life!"

Ignoring the absurdity of such a statement, having been a clone, both started thinking. "I know, mine too! But we can't call each other Narue! How could others tell us apart?!"

Once more, their true situation set upon the two. Everyone? What 'others'? Only three people ever called her by name… The Hokage and the Ichiraku family. Even Iruka had only started doing so recently, but he didn't count anymore. Everyone else was either 'brat' or some form of derogative, when not outright ignored. They didn't want to remember those people...

Pushing the thoughts away, Narue looked at her former clone. "Still, another name… I'm the original, so I think it's only fair we change yours."

She pouted at her 'original', but nodded. "Just change 'e' to 'a'. Narua. I don't want to change too much, else it will feel too weird!" After a second, they broke down giggling, and hugged again.

A while later, they pulled apart, separating their tails completely this time. They looked around at the surrounding forest. It was already getting dark, but neither had any trouble seeing. "Eh? The grass is really growing fast Narue-nee!"

The red-blonde looked about, and saw it was true. It was already up to their chest, though they were still sitting. "Yea… this is so weird." The two girls furrowed their brows for a moment, then gave up, shrugging. "I really don't want to go back to the village…"

"Eh? Yea… But where else would we go? I mean, this is the past right? Wouldn't jiji be looking for us if we just ran off? Who knows how long it will take for him to notice though."

Narua frowned, but shook her head. "Probably. We can't leave the village without passing people either. With our tails showing, they'd hunt us down, maybe even kill us!"

Both twin's eyes widened dramatically all of a sudden, "how do we hide our tails and ears?!"

They stared at each other in shock and fear. "We can't go anywhere 'til we figure that out!"

Shaking her head quickly in mutual agreement, they started back and forth on thoughts, before deciding to try their Henge. Narue started building up chakra, which quickly became a visible light violet wrapping around her body. Not an instant later, she was tackled to the ground, breaking her concentration. "Ouw~" Looking back at her sister-attacker, not noticing her quickened breath or expression, she growled, "What was that for?!"

Narua for her part was freaking out. Spreading her arms around brough the other twin's attention to what she caused, to which she froze.

"W-What? I di..did this?" Ignoring the nod, or not seeing it, she just continued staring at the meter tall grass surrounding them. Only where they had been was it shorter, flattened from having the two children rolling around in it. Suddenly being surrounded by grass, which quite easily didn't seem like grass anymore, as tall as their full height, was quite daunting.

"I-I think your chakra isn't just stronger. The plants are growing from it!" Narua said in awe. She turned back to eye her twin. "Use less chakra. Much _much_ less! What you pulled out was so much more than we ever used for transforming before! Even though I've never felt someone else's chakra before, but even I felt that!"

What the two girls didn't know was that the forest they were in was surrounded by seals, which had been placed nearly a hundred years before, to hold in massive amounts of chakra from being felt. Their luck always being incredible, had thankfully kept them from exposing konoha to a massive burst of unknown chakra, and bringing attention to them.

Narue nodded belatedly. "Okay. Less chakra. A lot less..?" Another nod. "Okay."

Narua placed a hand on her sister, trying to feel the energy more closely. Focusing on hiding her new features, Narue tried again, this time trying to reign in any that tried escaping her body. "Even less!" Listening to her sister, she focused on splitting apart the strange new energies that was held within her body. "I told you less!" Narue barely kept from growling, and spread out what she had, letting go of more than half, doing so again and again, until her sister finally stopped.

Running through the hand-seals, Narue finally used the technique.

A large 'poof' of smoke spread out from the two children, enough to block the vision of any creature within several dozen meters, and reaching half as tall as the surrounding trees. When it cleared, Narua saw what amounted to a single-tailed kitsune. "...Kind of worked? You still have ears and a tail."

Narue almost wept at having to do that again. "That was so hard~!" Hearing a giggle, she turned on her sister, pouting. This only brought more laughter, so Narue lunged and tackler her sister to the ground. They rolled around for dominance for a bit before stopping and laughing together.

"Okay okay!" Narua laughed again. "I'll try now." They stood up, and headed back to the 'larger' flattened area of grass. It was strange seeing something that's usually so short be so much taller. It had obviously grown again from trying to use 'henge'.

Doing what her sister did, Narua split her energy until it felt similar to what Narua had used. Strangely, they were able to feel chakra, which neither had been capable of before. She lessened it even further. Like stated, it was getting harder and harder to do so as she kept splitting it up. There was just too much, and it all seemed to want to meld together. After another stray thought about it not really following 'lines' anymore, she felt it was small enough.

The 'poof' was far smaller this time, only encompassing the two of them with smoke, however the result was the same. Pink-slit eyes, blonde fox ears, and a single blonde-tail with two red stripes along its length. A mirror opposite of what her sister had as her henge. Thankfully their canines and claws had morphed into the normal humanesque features.

"...Same thing?" Narue responded confused.

Narua frowned in confusion. She flicked her 'single' tail a little, as her ears swiveled. "Eh?" Surprised, she blinked. "It doesn't even feel like the normal transformation?"

"Huh?" Owlishly blinking, Narue reflected the motions of her sister. "It's true? I don't feel like I'm trying to hold it either, but that it's still me?" A moment of concentration had her full features returning. The two blonde stripes on her 'single' tail split into their own as the red split into seven almost seamlessly. Claws grew back, and her canines lengthened slightly. "That was.. weird."

Narua just stared, openly gaping at the 'transformation'. "Weird is wrong..! That was neat!"

Instead of using the hand-seals again, Narue focused on the strangeness she felt when 'releasing' the henge, and a moment of concentration had reversed the release process. Once more she was a single tailed kitsune-child, confirmed by looking behind her at the wonderfully over-fluffy tail swishing behind her in wonder. Soon she was mesmerized at the sway, ignoring her sister's words of amazement, even as the twin attempted it herself.

 _Tail, fluffy, cute, want…!_ Not a moment later she spun in an attempt to grasp the object of her recent affections, only to miss and fall sideways. Mid-fall had the tail actually sway back into her arms, luckily, where she hugged it tightly.

A giggle broke through, "ne, ne, that was really cute." Narue looked up to her sister, who was actually blushing from the sight. Smirking, Narua hopped at her twin, who released a startled yelp as she fell backwards. "Hehe, I want some of your fuzzy too!"

"No! You have your own!" Narue growled, which only brought another giggle as they rolled around, flattening the grass. A second later, the single tail of her sister was tickling her face. "H-Hey! Stop i-hii-it!" Unable to help themselves, both girls started laughing, albeit for entirely different reasons.

Before they knew it, the two had fallen asleep in the middle of an overly padded area of flattened grass. Despite all their grief, sadness, and pain, small smiles graced their whiskered faces.

* * *

So I wrote two more chapters of this yesterday…  
That's a lot of squigglies!

My beloved fans~ Tell me what you all think?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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The village of Konoha was a quiet and peaceful place.

How such quiet is possible, despite having been created in a militarized aspect, is due to the type of soldiers they house. Since before its creation, ninja have been used as a mercenary force. This hasn't changed. But Shinobi and Kunoichi are typically taught that silence is one of their greatest assets. As such, their force attempt to move and work with the least bit of sound possible. The civilians are louder than their counterparts.

Peace is due to having a force capable of constant protection shielding the people from inherent dangers. Despite having been in several wars, the village has never once been invaded by another militarized force.

However, it has been 'invaded'.

This would be impossible in normal circumstances. However, due to the type of 'foe', it was more than possible. An attack of unimaginable proportions had occurred exactly six years before. The 'force' to do so was not so much a force of 'man', but more of a force of 'nature'.

The Kyuubi attack, a being of incredible proportions, easily more than a hundred meters tall, had suddenly sprung up within the very walls of this quiet and peaceful village. It had killed hundreds, and damaged much of the main village area. Ridiculously, if anyone had paid attention to the 'how' of this incredible being's kills, they would notice that most were simply crushed under its summoning, rather than any direct attack.

A child born that disastrous night, placed with an unknown burden, a small child with straight short, straight red hair, deep blue eyes, and an adorable whiskered face, was being chased through the village by a group of people. No matter how fast this child ran, what small places she crawled through, dirtying shorts and shirt in attempts to evade pursuit even as angry people were at every turn.

Luckily for the child, such a strange unannounced commotion was brought to the attention of their village leader, who stepped in quickly, protecting this exhausted child from any further harm. Somehow, the usual 'protection', whom the small child dubbed 'shadow' wasn't around. It was unknown that more than one 'shadow' existed, though, never having caught more than that of the strange followers, but knew entity('s) was usually around. The village leader, however, knew why as soon as he found her, and would ensure such would not happen again. Ever.

Thankfully, the terrified child was too tired to do much more than sleep within safe arms.

However, a far more important event was taking place elsewhere, at this very instant.

On another side of the village, far away from where any large stone faces could be seen, two little foxes were chasing each other around a strange forest. The area had changed drastically within the past several months. It had gone unnoticed by most, having been uninhabited clan ground, and illegal to trespass upon by law. As such, the ninja force left a gap around the area, knowing it was protected from outsiders normally. The forest surrounding it was also mostly ignored due to this.

However, civilians were a curious bunch, and had often come to 'look' at the sacred grounds of the near extinct clan of their beloved Shodaime. As such, it wasn't strange that rumors of any change would soon come along in a conversation. Especially when there was a link to what the clan was famous for.

From the start, many rumors had spread about the empty residence. A loss of the clan meant dying plants around the area. Of course this was false. Ghosts creeping around of long past families was another rumor, but this type was easily spread about any group of people. Many other forms had found its way throughout the populace. Including the most recent that some Senju had recently been born, and the clan forest grounds were growing to signify such. A rumor of Tsunade-Hime possibly birthing a child, despite her age, had recently been popular.

Being a suspicious bunch, the area was quickly scanned soon after the rumors started appearing by ninja. Despite their best effort into finding a cause, not a single clue had appeared. Only a few areas of flattened grass had been found where it was obvious children were playing, but this could be anyone, and held little significance. Children were often finding their way into areas they shouldn't, and the forest they scanned was no exception.

Another rumor had popped up by a few children playing within the area, about strange dual-coloured foxes. It wasn't so much about foxes themselves rather than having two that held unique pelts. This wasn't as ignored by the adults, however, as not a single indication of such creatures were found by anyone with an age in the double digits. Naturally, shinobi cared little about this rumor. Only civilians responded to the fact that 'demons' were living within their village walls, especially the sacred senju grounds.

The last rumor, however, was of a bit more significance. Within the last couple months, a shy Hyuuga child, had been walking through in search of the area, looking for the little foxes of rumor, caretaker hidden away.

Something the shy little child will always deeply regret, is having spoken about spotting two children playing with plants not too far from her, but beyond her ability to reach with such overgrown plants in the way. Her caretaker is not one to leave out details, nor hide them if not deemed dangerous to speak of.

Such a find wouldn't have been of significance normally, but there were two pieces that quickly caught the attention of others, The two children both had little fox ears upon their head, and a fluffy fox tail used to steady their odd movements as they maneuvered about the area. This would normally be thought of as a bad joke, but when added to the fact that one had grown the branch of a tree longer to help jump to another, a little more thought was added. Especially when word of _who_ the rumor started from had surfaced.

The strangest part was that the two disappeared a few seconds after being spotted, turning towards the Byakugan wielder, who had been preoccupied with the sudden appearance of her bodyguard reacting to her gasp of surprise, she had missed how the two had been able to hide.

This last rumor was thoroughly searched by not one, but multiple factions. Even more than just the main or hidden shinobi forces, but a secret force, and a few tracking clans had been tasked to search. The only people who hadn't was the clan of the Heiress herself, who thought it to be a joke. Quite hard to believe when the bodyguard had searched mere seconds afterwards, only to see nothing.

Unfortunately, not a single lead was to be found. The trees themselves were formed from Mokuton chakra of the Shodai, and the forest itself, grown from this energy for decades, easily hid any chakra that was decently connected to nature.

Having no leads, or any indication that there was such an existence, the unofficial search was called off not long after. Declaration that the rumor was false by even the clans of Konoha, however, did not deter civilians from their strange belief that the demon fox was somehow invading sacred grounds.

The night of the Kyuubi Festival was the best choice of time to remove any demonic influences for their walls. A demon fox, no matter the nature, needed to be removed. So the sight of a dozen or so civilians congregated to one side of the forest, a fair ways away from any priority area of patrols, wasn't so surprising. Civilians in a group, by nature, are not the smartest bunch.

However, on the other side of the area, closer to the other clan districts, a single little girl in a beautiful little festival yukata, had somehow evaded both her father and caretaker to come find the little fox children. It was easy coming to the conclusion that the night of the fox would bring her the best luck to find one. Or two.

* * *

"Grrr~, I'll get you this time!" A little girl jumped from a slim branch to another one that would be too far if it wasn't a few meters lower.

"Nyahaha~" The other child stuck her tongue out when looking back. As she did so, the limb under her extended a little, changing what branch would be the safest and easiest to hope towards next. Obviously, this threw off her pursuer as she did so.

"Agh! You're so unfair!" The blond-red kitsune child scrambled backwards, hopping up higher, not having another tree ahead that would put her in a direction to chase now.

 _Ehehe, sorry, but I can't help it! Now hurry, or you'll never catch me!_ Narua growled again, but didn't comment. Once more, she took off at speeds she could barely keep up with, using claws in attempt to quicken her pace further, as well as barely keeping her from falling off.

Ahead, Narue just kept up a small smile. Despite the little taunt, her pace had slowed a bit. Both girls had grown some in the past year or so. They didn't actually know how much time had passed, but it was at least a year, and maybe even two.

Several interesting fact had been brought to attention. Many were incredible, others subtle, and a few inane. Their instantaneous shrinkage had torn their muscle memory to pieces. Every little thing had been thrown off, either slightly or significantly. The first few times trying to grab her tail, the little appendage that tends to grab her entire attention when swaying gently, quickly ended up with failure of varied, sometimes humiliating, results. Climbing trees, digging holes, and other such basic motions were so much harder than should have been.

Of course, that was one of the more silly bits. Something that had sparked their interest nearly instantaneously, was the fact they couldn't be harmed. Well, let's rephrase that; their injuries heal exceptionally fast, and any blood lost literally disappears into thin air as mist the color of their chakra a few seconds after leaving their bodies. This was found out after accidentally learning how sharp their claws really were.

Another fact, one of more direct interest, was their lacking need of nourishment. Food and water, they found, were unimportant within their lives. While they were capable of ingesting such, and would later need to.. relieve themselves as a result, was completely unnecessary. Despite this, their bodies grew just fine. Better than remembered, actually.

Best of all, the two had discovered their chakra were both unimaginably large, and quite unique in and of themselves. Narue wasn't just capable of growing plants, but directing them as well. Something she put to use, pressing more than a small amount into another limb, which allowed it to grow twice it's normal size and length as she landed upon it, then hopped away in a direction distinctly opposite of her previous destination.

Despite having family now, even if she was an accidental creation of a sister, had been far more incredible than Narue would ever have believed. The girl wasn't just a simple person she knew. She wasn't just friendly, nice, or a bit caring. She didn't give off any of those strange auras other people did. She didn't smile with those strange faces which ended up somehow hurting her.

The only person relatable would have been Ayane, but the serving girl wasn't truly comparable. Sure she had those traits, but Narua also had outbursts in various other ways. While Ayane also griped and tried to make sure Narue was properly taking care of herself, it wasn't quite like family. Narue would get angry, fight, cry, hug, and even prank! Like when Narue would wake up purring, not realizing that she was literally put back to sleep, over and over, losing half the day to simple ministrations upon her head and tail, just so Narua could secretly practice hair-styling. Of course Narue had done similar...

This almost sounded like she was describing herself, though considering Narua was her twin, in practically every sense of the word, it wasn't that hard to believe that she was. There were quite a few differences as time passed. These were practically non-existent compared to the physical differences though.

Once more, Narua pressed energy into the branch she landed upon, however it didn't act as expected. "Kyaaa~!"

Instead, when she landed, expecting the normal easy-to-grip surface under her bare feet, all that happened was her feet sliding forward. All of a sudden, she was headed for the ground instead of another branch. Landing in the tall grass below, having been lengthened with most of the forest to the average half-meter height, Narue felt no pain within the cushioned landing against her back.

A moment later had another presence landing over her, legs spread to either side to ensure no escape. Looking up, Narue saw the pink outline surrounding the limb she slipped on. The crystal was thin, nearly invisible in the darkening skies, but obviously signified Narua had been close enough to touch it just as she did. It was a good plan, considering their chase game didn't end until the prey was 'caught', rather than 'touched'.

"Hehe, caught you, nee-chan." The blonde-red sister said, proudly, as her fingers descended.

"Kyahaha~, I give, I give!" Naturally, she couldn't hold back laughing, but the fingers didn't stop for a few seconds, despite her words. "H-Hey! Ha-haha Kyaaha! S-Ha-STAHP-hah-ha!"

Just like Narue had power over plants, it seemed Narua had a similar ability over earth. Narue could 'grow' plants from nothing, though she knew there was little bits of life everywhere that grew to her wishes, despite looking as if nothing was there. Her energy generated the life in plants, growing from the basic form of whatever she applied chakra to, and directed the formation of.

Narua, however, needed only water. She could practically create the crystal from nothing, but it was more like she drew the structure from the surrounding air, and it replicated with her energy, just as Narue did with earth. They both needed a basis to start with, and their energy would replicate the rest. Practically everything in nature seemed to be formed of similar basis of either earth, water, and air. This meant the two could bring out their element practically anywhere.

It was to this scene a third presence found herself squeaking at.

* * *

More Fluff! Squeaks! Squeals! Furry Lovable Delight!  
Run! For it is impossible to contain! Ruuu~n!

...You all got trampled by it, didn't you?

Thank you for the reviews :D

Reviews:  
Pairings? No pairings yet.  
She has much to desire in her upbringing, obviously. Thus, unable to dictate whether or not she should hate something. So far, it's only pain that is going to be ignored or pushed away, as shown in this chapter. They're more content to be with each for now.

I'll leave anything else for later, I guess?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

The short figure of a bluenette had entered the Senju forest with an active Byakugan. She was actually rather thankful her clan had taken her words as a joke. Even Ko, who had been there, looked where Hinata directed to see nothing, had said so. His word was greater than a child's, despite her position. However, as it was considered a joke, had easily and openly talked of it. The Hyuuga didn't care of such a matter, and the only other clan that could search with eyes didn't quite have the capability to see such distance, nor cared for the words of another clan, and would rather openly taunt the Hyuuga instead.

The last two clans that could track, actually had. The Inuzuka clan smelled fox, but couldn't find the source. Several holes were found, indication of foxes, but not once had there been a sighting. Aburame, however, recalled any that tried. Their kikaichu said the forest was even full of more chakra now than they remembered in decades. Their collective hive-mind allowing vast recall of information long past, despite their short life-spans.

Even if not malevolent in nature, more attuned to the forest than anything, was just too much for any bugs that actually did get close to the source. The little trackers may not have died upon contact with either possible target, but they did refuse to leave once finding their target, rendering any possible conclusive information from returning to their hosts. The Aburame, considering the location, merely stated that nature's influence was just too overpowering within the area, and getting stronger. As such, the only viable information to go on, confirmed by a few Inuzuka, was that there was an actual possibility of foxes, not that ninja actually cared.

Pushing through the tall grass, something that seemed to be spreading, the Hyuuga child searched. Close and Far, High and Low, Hinata attempted to find the two children from before. Luck had been with her that night, as she had prayed the Festival Day would, giving her a sighting nearby of the two jumping around. What she had seen more incredible than she saw the first time.

Fast as she could, the two were faster, but their roundabout directions allowed her to catch up. Soon enough the two had ended their chase, and she pressed herself even further, slipping through enlarged bushes, climbing over a few felled trees, and finally coming upon the two laughing. Within range, she finally released her eyes, the drain too much for continuous usage.

Watching the smirking girl on top tickling the one underneath, begging to be released, had a smile finding her face. She wished she could play like that with her Onii-san, but he was always pushing her away, angry at life. Her little sister was still young, and Hinata didn't want to harm her either with such a game.

It was still weird to see two girls playing alone in a forest near dusk. Even more when the two had fox ears and a tail of opposing red and blonde colors. Something was strange though. Their clothing looked different. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the.. material, maybe?.. was different.

Due to the tall grass, it was hard to make out the laughing one underneath the other, but the one on top had a pink kimono blouse that ended just over her tail, leaving most of her legs bare, with a red sash tied in a butterfly knot behind her back. The other twin, as the two obviously were, had a light violet kimono with a bright yellow - blonde - obi, tied similarly. She wondered how they were made, but it seemed fitting, with their shortness designed to both allow their tails full roam while hiding their bottom and special place even bent over as the blonde-twin was, especially with their tails.

The calm, light, playful atmosphere of the two having fun gave her the courage to "H-Hello."

Two slitted pairs of eyes of pale violet and pale pink, both somehow reminding hinata of crystals, had snapped to her. The joyful atmosphere and soft natural environment had all stilled.

Hinata flinched with a squeak, and quickly slid behind a nearby tree trunk, near seamlessly fading from existence. Despite trying to hide, half her face was still visible to the twins, as she looked for their reaction. The sudden eerie quiet that surrounded two immensely shocked kitsune girls didn't seem to bode well, causing the short-haired girl to start trembling.

Both twins, seeing and smelling her fear, looked back towards one another.

 _How did we not notice her?!_ Narue practically freaked at the revelation. Another unexpected addition to their skillsets had been an enhanced sense of smell. But it wasn't only that.

 _I don't know! She's terrified! But I hadn't felt her either, not until we both looked at her!_ Vaguely, they had been able to feel people around them. It wasn't something they quite understood, but when a person had some type of intention that bordered on the negative side, said person quickly stood out among their senses. Of course it was only within a certain range, and far more prominent in closer proximity.

 _W-Wait, isn't that..?_ Taking a closer look, the figure of the intruding child was exceptionally familiar. The scent too, but differentiating others by smell wasn't something they had learned until recently. And yet, she was familiar.

 _Yea… I recognizer her too! But if she is, that might explain why we ignored her as a threat. What was her name again?_ From the first few days, since arriving, had been to stay away from others. Humans specifically, but dogs too. The cute and cuddly creatures had somehow become one of their most feared.

 _..Should we... run? She already closed her eyes. It would give us a chance to easily escape without notice._ Looking back at each other for a moment, they shook their heads, both deciding not to run. Narua rolled off her sister to stand up, which was followed by Narue. This was the first contact with another in over a year, and the only feeling towards them at all was fear, which only happened after trying to get their attention.

Hinata, for her part, was now completely hidden from the two. As soon as they looked at her with those narrowed cat-like eyes, she had broken down in fear. Despite the obvious differences, it reminded her of the clan, always studying her, picking apart everything she did. They were different, but still similar at that moment. At hearing the sound of the two girls moving towards her, she tried to shrink in on herself and into the tree.

"Hello?" At hearing the little 'eep' from the short-haired girl, the twins looked at each other in worry. "Umm, we aren't going to hurt you, 'ttebane" Despite herself, Narue blinked at the quirk, before shrugging. Both she and Narua did it habitually, but very rarely around one another. For it to pop up so quickly, it reminded her of before the 'incident'.

"Yea, you're not in any danger. You don't even feel like you'd hurt a fly, let alone us." Narua continued on, more confused than before at the still shivering, familiar stranger. "Why would we hurt someone like that? We'd rather run." "And usually do."

Hearing the that was a bit comforting, though hearing the same voice from two different directions was a little confusing. Tentatively opening her eyes, she came to the sight of cuteness. Unlike before, the image of affection was the most apparent upon the twin faces. With whisker-like markings, beautiful cat-eyes that's more cute than fearsome, Hinata couldn't help but stare, but seeing the twitching ears moving around, the child couldn't help but toss the rest of her restraint down the metaphorical drain. "Kyaaa~!"

All of a sudden Narua's sight was surrounded by grass, pointed up at treetops with a strange comforting sensation flowing along her head, and a giggling over to the side. In the few seconds this took to register, she had already stopped caring about why that was, let alone thinking about it. The spreading pleasant sensations were far more important...

Narue was attempting, and failing spectacularly, at holding her laughter. Almost as soon as she opened her eyes, the strange girl tackled her sister in a hug, only to start petting her sister. And if she was reading the situation right, both were in a state of euphoria - not her exact words, but she knew what was happening, both visibly and through the mental link.

It took a few moments for Hinata to realize what she she was doing, mostly because she realized the second ball of cute fluff was laughing quite loudly. However, the sight of a second caused a repeat reaction. Narue quickly found herself in a similar state as her sister, on her back with small hands ministrating please the went coursing throughout her body.

Between the three, Hinata was probably getting the most though. Hearing the two fox-eared girls purring as she pet them, cuddling up between the two, had brought pleasure she hadn't felt since her mother passed. And even then, this was completely different kind.

To her utter disappointment, however, both twins sat up, stilled with wide-eyes. Hinata looked between the two, not understanding the sudden change. Even their tail fur had puffed out dramatically, which she knew was a sign of fright or anger on cats.

The twins looked at each other, fear evident for some odd reason, and she knew it wasn't her from their reactions, thankfully. "W-What's wrong? Is something wrong?" With her stutters at an all time minimum, she had managed to squeak out a question.

Shivering simultaneously, the inversely coloured kitsune looked at Hinata, slightly suspicious. _Did she bring them?_

 _...I don't think so, nee-chan. There's not a single negative feeling from her, besides the obvious fright we just caused._ Narue responded, brows furrowing. _We can't leave her either._ _We don't why they're here, but it's probably us._ _If they find her, there's no telling what might happen to her while looking for us._ _The feeling these people are giving off is…_

 _Yea…_ Both girls shivered again as a few more dark spots entered their range. _But we can't hide her!_ _We don't have enough room!_

 _..We just have to make another with a bigger entrance._ They gazed at each other once more before breaking off. "People are coming. Lots of them. And they feel so dark…"

Hinata frowned, confused, and still wanting to pet the twins more, but nodded. Using a hand-seal, she activated her Byakugan, and looked around. There really were a bunch of people out in the woods! And many were actually headed their way! She stopped flooding chakra into her eyes. "W-Why are th-they here?" It was incomprehensible why 'dark' people would be coming. What did that even mean?

They glanced at each other again. "Us…" Hinata, knowing about the Kyuubi, kind of understood. But what it had to do with the twins, she didn't know. But looking like they were part fox, at least, made a little sense. "We need to hide. And fast. We don't want them to find you either." Narue finished.

"O-Okay?" Hinata was even more confused, but followed along as the twins headed towards a thick area of nearby trees and bushes. Kneeling down, she followed the leading twin underneath a thick bush, a hole in the branches that was barely obvious before kneeling down. How had they seen it?

In the middle of the thicket, Narue closed her eyes. Hinata was wondering what she was doing, but her answer came a moment later when branches and roots started flowing about in front of the red-hair girl. Dirt just seemed to slide around, roots creeping about, pushing the dirt to the side, before opening up in the middle. A hole slowly grew in the middle of the roots, large enough for the children to crawl into. However, the sound of roots shifting kept up for another minute or so before stopping.

Hinata's wide-eyed stare was ignored as the blonde twin crawled around the two and into the hole. Narue ushered the stunned bluenette into the hole, before following after her. It flowed downward for quite a bit, but at an easy slope. Once more, she stilled as the leading twin pressed her hands to the ground before what she could barely make out to be the tunnel's end, which opened up into what seemed to be a cavern, encased within roots.

Narua focused her chakra over the upper root system, encasing, freezing, and extending it. The roots turned color, colder, and started smoothing over as pink filled ice encased them. Somehow, it seemed that the area grew slightly brighter, as if the ice itself was glowing, the area lightened a shade similar to the ice.

he three crawled inside the area, which was about as big as a large family room. Narue, following hinata inside, now had enough visibility to see with the cold crystal amplifying it to finish. Pressing her hands to the root floor, she willed a bed of flowers into existence from the roots. The colours were random, but the darkness made it difficult to pinpoint specific colors. As it is, Hinata could barely tell why the hard ground had turned soft, much less see what happened, but the scents gave it away. "F-Flowers?!"

"Ah, hai, I grew flowers to make the ground soft to sleep on."

"And I made the roof to help reflect more light, letting us see, as well as keeping us cool."

"U-Um… I c-can't see?" Hinata looked up at the soft pink glow above, but could barely make out shapes.

"Huh? We can see fine… Oh Yea!", Narua glanced at her twin. "We can see better than before, can't we?"

"Uh huh." She nodded. "It's probably that. Hey, you can sleep here tonight, with us. Nobody will find us this deep. Beside, it's kind of nice to have someone else nearby that doesn't mean any harm.

"I-Is this normally h-how you live?" Hinata couldn't hide her surprise. More by the 'harm' than the rest, though all of it just as surprising as the rest.

"...For a while now, yea. It's comfortable, nobody bothers us, and we can hide from anyone." Except the girl in front of them. Somehow, she had snuck up. Even now, they can only barely feel her, but that was mostly because of the slight 'fear' she was letting out. That, and they really didn't understand what most of those feelings were, or why it was only the bad parts they could feel. It didn't help that it was so vague.

"B-But-"

"We're fine. We don't need anything, and we're safer this way." Narue cut her off, not wanting to be pitied or anything like.

"People don't react well to us, so we avoid them." Narua finished off, kind of emotionlessly. From the start, they were practically ignored all of their, her, Narue's life. Only getting attention, albeit negative attention, when playing pranks. She had more attention from Narue, or vise-versa, in the past months than her entire life before the 'change'.

Being the same person, while being a different person, was quite confusing...

Hinata didn't know how to respond to that. It was so sad, having nobody but themselves, hiding from the world. No home, no parents. They didn't have parents, right? The bluenette couldn't imagine living like that. How would she get food? She couldn't make a home like they could. The answer was simple; she couldn't.

"We should go to sleep."  
"The hole isn't going to be found by the people out there."  
"And it isn't safe to leave either."

Hinata looked back and forth from the disorienting twins. Hearing the same voice come from either side of her, echoing off crystal within the darkness, was quite dizzying. Nodding her assent, she laid down on the unbelievably soft 'bed' below her. Before she knew it, two soft fuzzies were curled up around her, removing any more worries.

Slightly, only just, the twins could hear the voices just outside the hole. Despite telling their new 'friend' to sleep, they couldn't.

"-felt chakra…nothing...something over the-...n idiot...around somewhere...not..nearby"

Somehow, people had come close to the entrance. They didn't know how, or why anyone knew of them, but people were searching for them. Only children had seen them so far, because they never had these feelings about them. But the people above were close. Thankfully, no adult could get into their hole easily, let alone find it. Or so they hoped.

It was going to be a long night

* * *

So I wrote five or six chapters of this yesterday… Current Count: 14  
Oh! Hit 1,000 views just as I was about to post! Thanks for reading! :D

It's safe to say I'm enjoying writing this. Though I feel like I'm over explaining a story again. I tried to keep myself from doing so, keeping it to verbal character interaction as much as possible, but that's something I apparently can't help.

Well, whether that's a good or bad thing is up to the readers themselves.

Anyways, now we have three Naru's. We see some little pieces of what makes the twins special. And we have a new friend thrown into the mix. Wonder what else I can wrench into this story? Well, you'll find out soon.

And, I'll say this now, but this has only been a glimpse of what has been going on. They don't even know what they're doing, but they're doing it! Soon, all of Konoha will wilt beneath their might! Mwahahahaha~!

..Okay, maybe not quite like that XD

FANactic Writer: How does a Kyuubi spawn children? How was a Kyuubi formed? It was made by chakra, but did it require a base 'shape' prepared beforehand? If you're talking about their original Kyuubi, then they're more like the beast itself, and yet could also be considered its' spawn as well. Even I don't know how they'll be considered or treated by the Great Kyuubi no Kitsune(Not the Twins) XD  
Questions, Questions, Questions~ Answers will come in due time :p


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

Outside, in the festival, there was a hidden panic. Not only had the had the Hyuuga heiress disappeared several hours before, but they had yet to find her. It was long past midnight, and every Hyuuga was out searching the village without result. In fact, by the time it was dawn, a council meeting had been called, only for it to be canceled a few minutes later when the heiress had 'miraculously' reappeared.

Apparently she had gone exploring a forest when a bunch of 'scary looking people' entered it as well, and spent the entire night hiding from them. It was completely true, just without a few minor details of why she why she was there. A simple 'fox hunt' by the civilians nearly put the entire village on high alert.

Despite the trouble she caused, there wasn't any severe consequences Hinata had to endure, maybe even a little praise at being able to escape notice overnight. Though there were some consequences, such as a closer guard, and a bit harsher treatment from the elders. They may have punished her from running away from civilians, but there was no assurances that the 'forest invaders' were merely civilians. However, the shame felt within the village as her story circulated was unheard of. A ridiculous goose chase, which had obviously ended without a single result, again, had scared a child into hiding all night long, alone, in the woods.

Even the Hokage felt old at that point. They may have been empty, but they were clan grounds. Usually the clan itself takes care of intruders and the like. But the compound itself was sealed, and the forest relatively safe to allow trespass, usually by academy students, which nobody truly minded. They were just lucky nothing happened...

Somewhere in said woods, two girls were looking out upon the village from within. "We never heard her name…"

Blonde hair turned to the side. "Yea... Think she'll come back?" Her excitement easily displayed by perky ears.

"I hope so! Her hands felt really nice~." A red tail started swaying from side to side. A giggle responded to the strange statement.

The two fled back towards their safety zone, ignoring the large walled complex nearby. It had some strange invisible wall over the walls they couldn't bypass, nor could they tunnel under. Obviously abandoned, they had tried, and failed, to enter. There wasn't even a lock upon the gate, yet it wouldn't budge. As such, it quickly dissipated from thought as the sight dissipated from view behind them.

"Come on! I'll race ya to the falls!"

Slitted violet thinned as her sister took off into the trees "Oh, no you don't!" Tail twitching at the sudden challenge, Narue left the ground, quickly following her sister towards said destination.

 _Hurry up, slowpoke!_

Heeding the mental words, she increased her pace, using her natural affinity with plants to position herself in advantageous tree-hopping positions. Soon enough, the leading fox-eared girl came into view. "Gonna get you!"

Feeling her twin nearing, Narua smirked. Feeling a slight wind against her back, she smirked. She quickly took off from the branch. "Kyaaa!"

 _That was dirty!_ Looking back, just as she landed, Narua let out a little giggle at her twins expense. Face first in the grass below, tail twitching in annoyance, laid her pranked sister. Just overhead, upon the branch both had stepped upon mere seconds before, pink reflected in the morning sun, as if mocking the downed child.

Having successfully pulled one over on her sister, Narua continued onwards towards their destination, ignoring the indignant complaints and promises of payback flowing through their mental link. She had no doubt there would be.

It was still worth it.

* * *

 _Hey, are you seeing this?!_ Black slits narrowed as wide pink eyes attempted to expand into saucers.

 _I-I think so?_ Surprise and awed by the sight, a twin-blonde-striped red fox just stared at the strange intruding figure, jaw practically on the ground. _Is that really possible?!_

"Damnit! Where are they?" A feminine voice grunted out from high above.

The sound shocked the two fox shapes below, making them crawl deeper into the grass, and further from view. Their motions near soundless even to themselves. It still drew the attention of their apparent purser, who quickly looked about the area before shrugging it off.

 _You think she's looking for us?_ The twin-red-striped blonde fox mentally asked, quietly.

 _Who else would people be looking for out here?_ _All we've seen are rabbits, mice, and birds…_ The other mentally sighed, while trying to keep herself as small as possible.

 _Not true! There are snakes!_

 _Yea, I don't want to get caught by one of those again._ Both refused to shiver at that thought, not with the kunoichi above sniffing around, listening intently.

"Grrr~, they're around here somewhere! It should be easy! Damn overgrown grass!" She crouched down in preparation to jump, which looked awkward with the diagonal angle she was at, standing on the side of the large tree with a hand holding her slightly upright, instead of completely sideways.

A few leaps had her on the other side of the large clearing, before she started sniffing again. Another figure appeared nearby, which caused the twins to shiver. Despite not feeling anything except frustration from the woman, they hadn't cared to show themselves to either. The scent of both were running havoc with their instincts. While neither felt like a threat on the emotional level, their physical senses were saying otherwise.

"Calm down Tsume, they're here. But if you let your emotions take over, it will just be that much harder to find them." The second voice shocked the twins into pure disbelief.

"*Sigh~* I know. But their damn scent is _everywhere_! They even smell so similar that I can barely tell that it's two instead of one! Confusing is tame in this instance!" This caused a sigh from the four-legged speaker.

 _They really are looking for us!_

 _I don't get it, how do they even know we're here?! We've only shown ourselves to kids. Don't parents usually ignore what they say? Every time we ever played with another kid, no matter what they said to their parents, it was always ignored, and were told to stay away from us!_ Narue refused to believe the innocent kids would be able to pull a Konoha Kunoichi's attention, but that was not the only possibility. _You don't think it could be that blue haired girl?_

 _But she said she would never tell! And it didn't feel like she was lying._

 _Let's move, hopefully they're far enough now._ With the pursuers hopping to another set of branches a tiny bit further, the twins felt they had enough distance to move slowly about, and started heading towards the closest entrance to a prebuilt den.

Having a little bit of distance from the two voices, the twins slowly back away. Even if they could barely see far enough through the grass to find the two sources of concern, their keen eyesight was still capable of keeping track, and hearing maintaining a second assurance of location.

 _Maybe it was the kids. We should probably ignore any for the time being._

 _Yea… But I really don't wanna!_

 _Neither do I, but…_

Turning around, they started moving quicker towards their closest escape tunnel.

"Grrr… It's like they've been playing all over the area for days! Without sleep!" The spiky brown-haired woman turned to her partner. "Kuromaru, you found tracks earlier, right?"

"Hai, but with the overabundance of plant life, I was unable to follow any trail… Let's return. Their scent is all over the forest, and if they really are spending so much time in certain areas, it's unlikely we'll find their den. With most of their scent obviously focused away from their home, I doubt we'll find a lead." The large wolf-like dog supplied.

"But-" The woman tried, only to be cut off.

"Haven't you noticed?" The wolfish dog nearly growled out.

Surprised, the woman sniffed again, looking for anything off. It took a moment, but her eyes went wide. "There's no scent of blood! Nothing more than the tiniest of injuries that normally permeate a forest!"

Kuromaru nodded. "They're not hunting. Either they are intelligent, and capable of completely removing any traces, or someone is caring for them."

Tsume pondered this for a bit, perplexed, before shrugging. "Guess we really don't have any leads. If there was a blood trail, it would have easily led to a den. But like this… If someone is caring for them, then maybe we don't have to worry. Either way, let's go back Kuromaru."

The wolf-dog nodded, before jumping away, followed by Tsume. What he didn't say was that the fox scent was odd. They were mixed with Human. It wouldn't be odd for the two foxes to be pets of a human, however this was different. They weren't just mixed with human scent, but the scent itself was mixed. It's nearly impossible to recognize, but there were another pair of scents, human-like, that had fox mixed in. They were a perfect counter for the fox scents, and yet so similar. He didn't know what to make of it. But it seemed the foxes really were being cared for by two humans, two because, like the foxes, they seemed to be twins.

The coincidence was uncanny.

 _I feel them moving away…_

Slitted violet turned towards the other pair of slightly glowing eyes. _Yea, but why? They've been out there all morning. What changed?_

She shrugged, just happy that they were able to finally escape. Despite their dislike of the overgrown grass, it made moving about unseen quite easy. Even with their distinctly colourful coats, it was hard to find them if the grass was several times their own height. _Let's just rest for the day._

Narue simply curled up on the flowerbed in their den. Just like the others, it was a dome-like cavern, at least ten meters in diameter with most of it over two or three meters in height, allowing their full human-sized bodies easy maneuvering, built at least fifteen meters deep, with a fox-sized entrance. Neither knew why, but silently felt that deeper homes were better. The roots encasing the roof were covered with a thick layer of ice, both keeping a comfortably cool temperature and dim glow-lighting.

Narua's ice was far from normal, and both knew it. Neither knew why, but the pinkish chakra that was used to form the glowing crystal had always somehow managed to ingrain itself within any ice formed. Strangely, this produced several phenomenon that the twins could only barely understand. With it being her ice, Narua instinctively knew that there was more chakra within her creations than needed to merely create the ice.

With that known, they had concluded that being the reason her ice was the color of her chakra, which allowed it to glow. On top of that, it somehow prolonged the time it took for any ice to melt. So far, only the first den they had created this way had melting ice, and it was only halfway gone. The second would have as well, but Narua pushed a little bit of chakra into the ice, which proved that her chakra was indeed keeping it cold.

Multiple entrances lined each den, all of varying sizes, allowing the two several areas of escape and rest. They had even interlinked many of these areas. It was easy with Narue's natural aptitude with plants, allowing her to feel where the dens were.

 _So, she was literally standing on the side of the tree…_

Narue mentally giggled. _Too excited by what you saw to rest too, huh?_

 _Yea… I can't wait to try it! Don't you wanna know too?_ Obvious excitement lit her mental voice.

Shifting into her human form, Narue allowed the soft flowerbed to caress her skin. While fur was nice, skin allowed more pleasant sensations in certain situations. "Yea, I do. We'll figure it out, hehe."

The shift was quickly followed by her sister. "Just not today, I guess. *Sigh~*"

Their new forms also allowed them a more sensual comfort when sleeping together, which was why they quickly curled up together. "Yea, not with the possibility of the dogs coming back." They both shivered at the thought.

Neither really understood it, but were quite fearful of the dogs. It was an ingrained instinct they felt. Even if they are supposed to be the 'demon fox', Kyuubi no Kitsune, there was a natural fear towards the animal. They figured it was due to being foxes themselves, children at that, despite their supposed existence as a powerful being. Knowing they were more powerful apparently had little influence on instinct.

Though they found that instinct was telling them to stay away from others, not just dogs.

Still, they now had a new trick to try.

* * *

~Warning!Notes~

Okay, so people are wondering why Hyuuga aren't searching for them? Especially now? I kind of didn't want to elaborate, but it should be a bit obvious. Maybe not so much, but it's easy to understand if you know the basics within the manga. Probably… At least to me it is? Then again, it's my story, and understandings, so maybe not? ...I'll just write!

Well, that's simple. They simply don't care. It's beneath their notice to look for dumb animals. For those that do look, it's not quite so simple. The forest itself is just that, a forest. There are hills, streams, rock formations, and many other various features.

From what I've seen in the manga - not the stupid misconceived anime version - Konoha itself is massive. The wall itself is at least 25m tall, but supposedly surrounds the Hokage monument entirely, not just link together with it. I mean, what kind of planning would that be? Leaving an open forest hanging over the village, just inviting enemies to make use of its' natural height advantage? Just gather a dozen shinobi, give them each a scroll containing hundreds of kunai explosives, and unleash it downward?

No, the wall surrounds Konoha with the monument at its center. From the manga view, though vague, doesn't appear to connect them either. In the scene before Deva path turns the place into a crater, it actually shows the side of the cliff face curving back, rather than a connecting wall. The cliff appears at least half a kilometer wide as well, making Konoha at least a kilometer in radius. Probably at least two kilometers in diameter.

Where would the training grounds be? Inside the village right?(not counting 44) In most images in the anime, there's no room. Obviously this is because they messed up, and don't show _behind_ the monument as part of it. What of clan districts? They have to have their personal training areas too, right? They also wouldn't want to be in the middle of Konoha either.

Basically, I have ½ of of circle behind a minimum four kilometer diameter Konoha to work with, logically, probably even more. That's easily enough to give a half kilometer to Senju grounds, with similar or smaller areas for clans that joined konoha later.(they didn't all join at the same time)

So half a square kilometer(5002m) of forest might not seem much, but is quite a bit for two small foxes to roam. Hills, ponds, streams, ditches, caves, everything a normal area that large might have, and more with training taking place, gives much area to hide in.

Then we take in the fact that Hashirama spent at least 20 years living there before dieing. His potent chakra enhancing, reinforcing, altering, and basically remaking this area to fit his needs and natural energy. Far more than Konoha or anywhere else, it would easily last decades, hiding even potent energies within it.

Then taking into fact that both the twins are drawing in natural energies to feed themselves, although without realizing it, and putting out their own form of chakra which is slowly feeding into the forest, slightly changing it to feel like themselves, we can see that it would eventually hide the two of them. Anything they make or anywhere they hide would be naturally concealed.

An underground formation of their design would look much like the forest above. Their chakra coalesces nearby, but slowly spreads out to refrain from condensing too much. Any scent would typically cling to where their energies are denser, which would also make an entire area smell like them, instead of just dispersing. The plants grow faster from their ambient chakra, though barely visible, when Narue is around, forcing any changes to the plants and trails back to their original state, quickly hiding trails.

Basically, in the forest, unless they are using their chakra, it would be nearly impossible to find them if they don't want to be found. And since their chakra is pervading the entirety of the forest, their senses are keener, chakra and emotion wise, to pick up those around, making it even easier to know when to hide. Very few would be capable of going invisible. Basically, they have the perfect home to remain safe within. But only within.

Still, this just shows how 'incredible' an Uzumaki's luck is…

But who knows how long that will last? Ehehe~


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

 _*SPLASH*_

"Kyaa! Hey!" Turning around, the fox hanyou pouted, before smirking. Twisting quickly, she brought her tail up and flicked the end towards her inversely coloured twin.

Violet eyes widened before ducking under water, narrowly avoiding the spray. _Haha~_

Narua frowned for a moment, before leaning down. Just as red hair poked above the surface, she lunged! The resulting splash covered the yelp of her sister. Rolling around underwater, they struggled for a few seconds before separating to break surface.

"Grrr~ I'll get you for that!" Eyes narrowed, she looked around. Dense forest surrounded the duo, who were playing within a wide stream, a decent sized waterfall several meters away gave indication as to why the stream was a little deeper than should be. A small outcropping of rock on either side of the falls made for a decent platform to jump from.

"Hey…" Despite their recent antics, Narua's voice held little playfulness. This caught her twin by surprise. "You think we could head into the village? I miss ramen…"

"Ah… Yea. I do too. But you know we can't go out looking like this. We still haven't found a way to hide them!" Narue grumbled, pouting at their failures.

Their changes had many interesting fact about their bodies they had discovered. First was that they didn't _need_ to eat anymore. Second was that sleep came easily, but they could go without for as long as they didn't want to. Many nights were spent playing, but generally they slept. While these facts were a pleasant discovery, there were also some unpleasant.

Their jutsu, the few they knew, almost didn't work anymore. **Kawarimi** and **Bunshin** had become unavailable to them. **Henge** was harder, but they eventually got it down. For some strange reason they figured out that they had to use less chakra. But it was something that took days to figure out. **Kage-Bunshin** was the only jutsu they had no issue with, strangely.

Still, even if they wanted to use **Henge** , there was the issue of their fox parts. No matter what they tried, the foxy features just wouldn't change! Transforming their age and gender went without issue, but changing to another's appearance and removing body parts were all but impossible. Everything was always deformed or unchanged.

However, they quickly found that they could alter their appeance at will when it came to anything that has to do with their fox side. All nine tails could be merged into a single, far fluffier, tail that was only a third shorter than their height in length. Aside from that, they could shift to the form of a small fox if they wanted to. The only reason they still used hand seals when shifting from human to fox was to include their clothes within the transformation. Somehow, thankfully, they didn't need to concentrate when it came to transforming when it came to these forms. Only everything else.

"Umm, you can just make clothes to hide them then?" Narua pointed out, perking up after a few minutes of thought. Her twin blinked owlishly before brightening up drastically.

"Yea! That makes it easy!" She all but scrambled out of the river, followed by the blonde kitsune. They mimicked each other's' movements, trembling and shaking off the excess water, similar to other animals, removing the dampness from their fur. It didn't dissipate all, but got them mostly clean.

"Okay, we need to cover our ears and tail, right?" Narua sat cross-legged among the shorter grass along the river's edge. Thankfully it hadn't overgrown too much, mostly thanks to the water itself removing any that might have lengthened so much.

"Yea…" Small arms crossed as the nature-attuned child thought, a small pout forming. "It can't stand out. I still wanna hide, so it can't be obvious."

"But we're going to stand out anyways with our eyes and whiskers. People always knew who we were with our whiskers showing. They'll know…" The twins eyes widened at that realization. "They'll know who we are immediately! Jiji's probably been searching for us too, so we'll have to hide that!"

"Yea, but how?" Both saddened at this, but Narue's glance at her sister picked up something interesting. Their hair was far thinner than before, soft and full, just like their fox tails and ears. But another change came with it. The long strands were mostly straight, but the few that were below shoulder length were curling. "Hair."

"...Huh?" Narua looked up, then tilted her head. "Hair?" Her brows furrowed.

"Yea! Hair!" The mostly redhead declared, smirking like a fox. "We'll hide it with our hair! Make something sharp to cut with!"

Narua frowned, but complied. First she formed a comb, something she had taken to doing to keep their hair straight and neat. A moment later, she started thinking about something flat and sharp, she pulled the little water still nearby into her hand, and added chakra to form a short blade. It was a simple knife in appearance, but the thought of 'sharp' made it more than simple. "Here."

Brushing their hair didn't take all too long. Soon after had Narue gathering a blonde clump of hair on one side, before she sliced through it just past chin-length. This was copied on the other side as well. Now she had a point of red hair forming just between her eyes along her nose, with the two blonde strips flowing out over either side of her eyes and curling back to cover her cheeks, which had additionally covered her whiskers. The rest of her long red hair fell to just above her tail along her back.

Forming a mirror of ice, Narua took a look at the results of her sister's meddling. The blonde was quickly left with her mouth smiling at the ingenious of it all! And it looked really cute too! "My turn!" It didn't take long for a inversely colored reflection to have appeared across from Narue, giggling at the tickling fur across fur. They didn't realize it for so long, but the 'whisker scars' were actually an imperceptibly thin layer of dense fur.

"Okay, now for clothes! The only thing I can think of that wouldn't look strange is a yukata." The red-tailed child supplied.

"Uhuh, I was thinking that too. Normal colours?" Pink slitted eyes looked on, more demanding than questioning.

"Yea, I'll do our normal colours." Narue nodded.

Looking around, the two walked about the nearby area for the flowers needed. Narua with yellow and pink, and Narue with red and violet, as close to their eye and hair colours as possible. They also searched out a few various types of vines.

Once more together, Narue nodded. Pushing chakra into the flowers, she willed the petals to shift, grow, thicken, widen, and conform to her desires. The results would be plain, but soft and smell delightful.

In a few minutes, Narua was wearing a pink ankle length yukata, with sleeves along their arms to match their forearm length in width, tied with a burnt-yellow sash, hiding the thin green vine-ties underneath that held it together properly. Narue was dressed similar, only having the kimono a light shade of violet and a red obi instead.

Though the colours didn't exactly match their own personal colours, it still looked quite nice. Grinned at each other, they accepted the results, but faltered in mirrored mimicry upon seeing the other twin's ears pointed tall. They shifted in annoyance at the sight. "Okay, still need one more…"

"Mn…" The two sat down, though more 'ladylike' with the yukata blocking their normal motions, into a seiza. "Something that would hide our ears, but wouldn't look strange."

"It's too hot for a cloak, and straw would look weird." Narua continued.

"Hats are too easy to remove by wind."

"Needs to be cute…"

"Should it still be a hood?"

"Yea." Narua frowned and fidgeted in her clothes. "Hey…"

Narue looked up. Seeing her sister trying to get comfortable, already knew the issue. Besides their mental link, they had this problem with the battle-kimono they had taken to wearing, so was common. She reached forward and focused on the plant-cloth and allowed it to tighten and loosen about her sister to a comfortable fit. The back of the obi grew a tiny bit, allowing the butterfly bow to straighten into 'perfection', albeit unintentionally. _Sorry_

Narua nodded. "Okay, so a hood, but it should wrap around the shoulders too?"

Understanding, Narua focused on the flowers again. Another petal, matching the obi, was focused on. Soon it grew into something resembling a cloth, ruffled and loose, but mimicking the top part of a cloak. Smiling, she put it around her twins head, laughing as she struggled to avoid it.

"H-Hey! This one's yours! It's not my color!" Despite her struggles, the blonde-twin couldn't keep it from being placed upon her. Eventually she gave up. "Hmph…" She pouted, crossing her arms and looking away.

Narue took in her sister's appearance. Despite everything, it fit well. Just not enough to look 'normal' by other people's standards. Though her upbringing was rough, she had seen enough of others around Konoha to at least 'understand' what looks wrong or terrible. Though it had been a while. Mostly, she had been trying to mimic that weird girl's clothes from that night a few months back.

Realization dawned upon the sunny haired girl as Narue focused upon slight changes. Forgetting her annoyance immediately, she decided her added input would be better. "Hey, my ears too. Can you fix that part too?"

For a second Narue pondered, then nodded. Two pieces of the cloth-plant shifted upwards above Narua's head, allowing her ears to fit comfortably within. She knew they couldn't show their 'real' ears. But hiding them in plain sight? That left her laughing inside.

After it looked 'normal' enough, she pulled it off her sister, and copied the process upon the other flower for her sister's hood. They donned their own, allowing the ruffled material to enshroud their shoulders and cover the tops of their heads. Their hair was allowed to flow freely from underneath the red and yellow cowl/shawl like hoods. It was strange, because it nearly hid their primary hair colour while highlighting the secondary that was covering their whiskers.

""Cute"" They reflected, before giggling. It was a long-standing effect of their 'split'. Though they tried to be different, it always ended up with both acting and saying things at the same time all too often.

Looking up, they could easily pick out the morning air that still permeated the forest. The time it took to form their new attire was surprisingly short. With foxy grins, they turned to each other, "Time for Ramen?"

"Ramen Time!" The other replied excitedly.

Quickly they headed towards where they felt the most 'darkness'. Even if the feeling was vague, almost nonexistent the further away, it was still quite easy to pick out where large groups of people were. After a while they had started recognizing the feelings as 'people', so they still knew that Konoha was nearby, along with its direction, eventually.

Hopping up into the trees, they allowed their tails to flow freely, which barely allowed them to poke out the bottom of their new yukata. Despite the natural length, their tails were always curved somewhere, so it always appeared half their body length instead.

Once again, they started a chase to their 'destination', as they always do, laughing and growling along the way. Though they didn't know it, their games had quickly ingrained their natural movement and understanding of their bodies into their minds. And without worries of 'injuries', they had been able to do whatever crazy stunts they wanted without fear, pushing this even faster and furthering their instinctual understanding.

Landing on the outskirts of the forest, they looked out with their slightly glowing slitted eyes, anticipation and excitement glaringly obvious. "You ready?"

Blonde glanced over, "yea!"

* * *

So here a little more insight and development going **.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

Something strange was happening within the walls of Konoha. What this was, not a single person quite knew. Birds were not singing their normal songs. Cats were not quietly meowing. Dogs were not simply barking. The animals were completely quiet. This kind of effect was not usually noticed, not even by some of the ninja.

Hiruzen looked out from his window, frowning.

Even though most couldn't place it, the people could feel a tiny, near imperceptible presence. To civilian and Ninja alike, there was a sudden feeling within their walls that hadn't been there before. It was nearly undetectable, silent and non-threatening, calming even, but present everywhere, and almost missed by even the most experienced of ninja.

Those that could affect the entirety of Konoha with their presence alone could be counted upon a single hand. Hiruzen was one of those few. Yet, even he was unable to do it without the underlying announcement of a threat. Not so subtly. Nor so quietly...

Whoever was causing such a vast, yet nearly undetectable feeling to permeate their walls had to be powerful beyond even him. The fact that the presence was actually comforting to feel had not done anything to soothe his worries. The true issue was that they couldn't place where the cause was.

Few knew it, but he was one of the villages best sensors, at least when trying. Not many could evade his focus. Yet there was a being, one powerful enough to easily match a Kage, spreading their calming influence, but completely capable of hiding their location at the same time. He couldn't even place the direction of influence. Not even the chakra signature itself. None had suddenly spread about the village, vibrated in recognition of its owner, or had any other indication that this person was emitting their power.

The slow constant of appearing ANBU and Jounin within his office the past few minutes gave him little hope. If any had located the source, they would have informed him immediately. Even worse, there was not a single ping upon the village barrier that any significant chakra signatures had entered their walls.

It was… unsettling. "Search for the stranger within our walls. I want the person responsible for this disturbance, brought directly to me, unharmed."

* * *

On the other side of Konoha, two young girls were quietly making their way towards a familiar stand on the outskirts of the village. It had taken half an hour to subtly and quietly walk around to the more occupied and condensed area of the village, and in sight of the stone faces, but they were trying not to completely stand out. Obviously they still talked and laughed, not truly caring who saw them now, but they still knew they couldn't just hop around like ninja when nobody knew them.

"Miso! It HAS to be first!"

Even if she hadn't been the best student, many rules of the village were still quite obvious. An unknown child running across rooftops would bring attention of the ninja, and they would be brought in for questioning. They knew that with their changes, neither being completely blonde anymore, would probably bring up even more questions, as well as solidifying that few would recognize her, if any could at all.

"Shoyu! It's been too long!"

They would be looking for the village 'pariah' who had disappeared years before. Right? But wouldn't they be looking for twins, neither of which were completely blonde, nor had visible whiskers scars.

"Miso is our favorite!"

Even though their clothes were slightly off material wise, it wasn't so obvious as the little cat-eared hoods they wore, which took the focus of the villagers that laughed at the bickering twins passing by.

"ALL Ramen is our favorite! But we haven't had soy since before..before…. see?! We had Miso the last few times!" She pouted.

Their back and forth arguments, along with the hoods, had kept anyone from taking a closer look at the twins feet. If looking at just the right angle, a shadowed point could be seen swaying back and forth underneath slightly. Even then, it gave too little to be worth investigating why it was there, even if it had been seen.

"It doesn't matter! We haven't had any for so long that it should still be Miso!"

This continued on until they were already halfway across the village. Neither had noticed the strange increase of shinobi and kunoichi frantically hopping about the roofs. Even more, too caught up in their Ramen Battle, they hadn't noticed the quiet squeal that had found the pair.

""Kyaa~!"" Getting tackled to the ground, the twins couldn't help but cry out in surprise. Looking at each other, they blinked in mimicked surprise before looking back at the cause.

* * *

A while earlier, a little girl was flowing through several taught motions, repeating them until exhaustion. Or she would have, had the 'presence' not suddenly been felt. Looking over at the 'elder' that had been watching her, she saw his eyes wide. Before she even realized it, there was nobody within the dojo.

A smile quickly found its way into her face as she realized just what this 'presence' was. Unlike everyone else, she had met the source, felt the actual chakra, and was able to connect the two. Little did anyone realize, but the chakra that the 'presence' was spreading through had been leaking throughout the village for years. With it so large and powerful, it was quite simple to follow it to the source. And with the majority of the Hyuuga suddenly on alert for the source, she simply had to walk out the gates to leave her compound.

The rest of the village, no matter the clan, still hadn't quite connected the two together. Even Byakugan users skipped over the recent influx of nature-attuned chakra that had slowly been increasing. Had a single person connected the two, it wouldn't have been so difficult. The very nature of the two separate occurrences should have been simple to connect together. As it is, everyone overlooked the long increasing presence, and instead looked for a sudden large chakra signature that would be exuding massive waves of energy.

Of course no such person existed. The source wasn't putting out any chakra, but merely walking through an area that didn't have a natural filter, like the Senju Clan Grounds did. And Hinata, despite not understanding this, was still capable of following the small trail of chakra to its source. Although not quite recognizing the pair in their new yukata, the 'ears' quite easily marked who they were.

Happy she found the two, having been unable to go back to meet them again since the festival, it shouldn't be surprising she jumped them. Though, if it was anyone that knew her, they would declare such an event 'jaw-dropping'. Even if she had only spent a single night with the pair, barely knowing each other, she knew their easy attitude's would overlook her behaviour. They treated each other far rougher, after all. It also helped that she was still quite childish, and hadn't yet had too many terrible and morally detrimental experiences quite yet. It was also how she saw the pair interacting during their first meeting.

"Fuyuna! Haruna!" Hinata giggle at their faces, when turned to her in disbelief. They grinned, though, when they realized who it was. That turned to confusion an instant later. The bluenette gently pulled herself from the pair, only now realizing what she had done. "Ah! I-I'm so s-sorry!"

Getting up, dusting themselves off, the twins looked even more confused at the bowing girl. "It's okay." "We're happy to see you too!" The other finished.

Hinata straightened up, looked between them, then giggled a little again. "Still d-doing it!"

They smiled, but they were still confused. "We never got her name." Narue turned towards her sister, who returned a similar look at the statement. "Yea. And she called us… something?"

Hinata's eyes widened dramatically. "I-I'm so s-sorry! My name is H-Hyuuga Hinata!" She bowed once more. "Pl-please forgive m-my manners!"

"Eh? There's nothing to forgive?" Narua replied, even more confused. Narue just nodded along, "Want to come have some ramen with us?" Her happy tone wasn't overlooked.

"I-I would l-love to!" Hinata's heart jumped at the invitation. She hadn't been invited to anything before! She was barely allowed to socialize with anyone outside the clan. Smiling in response, they each grabbed a hand and started pulling her towards God's Kitchen - Ichiraku Ramen.

Three girls quickly found themselves upon seats within a small stall. "I can't wait! It's been so long!"

"Yea! Wait.. we still didn't decide!" A look of horror passed the yukata clad girls.

The other mirrored her reaction. "B-But, I thought we were getting Miso?"

"Eh?!"

"I-I'd like Miso too? Is that alright Fuyuna?" She glanced at the twins, questioningly, before letting out an 'eep' when both twins suddenly turned towards her. No matter how comfortable she'd gotten to the pair so quickly, having two pairs of slitted cat - or fox - eyes turn towards you like that was intimidating. At least for a shy unconfident girl.

"You called her Fuyuna?" Narue furrowed her brows cutely in thought. "Why?" The other finished, mimicking her sister's expression.

HInata blushed furiously. "A-Ano, I'm s-sorry! I d-don't know y-your names, but I didn't j-just want to keep w-wondering."

"But why?" The ice-wielder asked again.

"E-Eh? Uhm, Fuyuna - Fuyu no Hana - Winter's Flower. Haruna - Haru no Hana - Spring's Flower. Or simply I-I think th-they suited you b-both?" Hinata finished, uncertainly.

Having heard the reasoning, the sisters turned towards each other with wide eyes. Those names…

They're pretty!

And they really do suit us!

But what about Narue? And Narua?

I don't even think Narua means anything…?

Said owner pouted at her name. Stop giggling! It's not funny!

It took a few seconds to stifle her internal giggling, and outward shakes of held in laughter. S-ha-S-Sorry! hehe, o-okay. It would also be better than our names. We don't want Jiji to find us either. Our names… I saw we use her names. I really like them too!

Yea! At least when we look like foxes.

"-our orders?" The voice broke the girls from their mental chat. Surprised, they looked at the old man and smiled brightly. To their side, their new friend was looking at them oddly, but they ignored that. "We'd like Miso Ramen!" The twins chorused.

"M-Me too."

The quiet voice was almost missed, but having run the place so long, the man hadn't missed it. "Alright, three Miso coming right up!" He turned and left, giving a cursory glance at the twins before shaking his head, as if to clear it.

"A-Ano?" Looking between each other, they ended their unknown chat, then smiled brightly at their friend. "You can call us that if you want!" "We really like it!" "More than what we were called before!" "What you were called before!" "Hey!" "But I like mine too!" "Hmph! ..Yea, Thank you!"

Hinata got slightly dizzy turning back and forth between the two as their voices echoed on either side of her. "Kya!" The twins looked down at their friend, who had somehow fallen off her stool, before giggling.

Hinata returned to her seat, blushing, just as their meal arrived. "Here, best I can make, as deserved by beautiful little flowers!" This only intensified Hinata's blush, as he referenced her name as well - sunflower - along with her new friend's names.

Obviously he had overheard, though made no mention of such. Instead he focused on the other two girls, placing them as twins by a simple glance. He knew their drooling faces were familiar, but couldn't place it. The cute hoods and hair covered too much to make any true guess, and they hadn't introduced themselves, instead going with what were more like nicknames. Being in a ninja village, a person can't help but pick up a few traits of them too. The pair were just.. off. But everything pointed to them being completely harmless.

Before anyone knew it, the twins had finished their meal with bliss written across their faces. Hinata had only halfway finished, but was obviously unable to eat more. Ichiraku could tell when someone didn't finish because they didn't like it, rather than simply being unable to eat.

"So good~" Narue - Haruna - moaned out.

"Yea~" Narua - Fuyuna - mimicked.

The other two sweatdrop at the blissfully content girls. Their sighs gave away the fact they wanted more, but they suddenly stilled. Slowly they turned towards one another. Ichiraku, though observing only half the time - it was rude to stare - could easily pick out the reason why. More than that, he could tell when the reason was purposeful or deceitful. The shared shock and horror upon the twins faces told him the truth. Which was quickly confirmed.

"We don't have any money…" Haruna whispered.

"We don't have any money..!" Fuyuna echoed louder.

Hinata, once more looked between the two. She was surprised, but having seen where they lived, knew it was probably something she should have expected. "A-Ano." She tried, but a bit too quietly.

"So neither of you can pay, huh?" Ichiraku, despite being a kind and gentle man, normally wouldn't allow someone to eat for free, not without good reason. His expression was neither kind, nor dangerous, but still allowed it to stay serious. Though, for customers like these - first time customers, truly regretful, and thoroughly loved the meal - he would normally wave off the payment. But something was still bugging him. "What do you expect to do?"

Comically, the twins hopped down, tears pouring out of their eyes, and kneeled into a position to beg forgiveness. Once more, Hinata's quiet attempt to gain attention had gone unheard. Well, unheard by the twins. Ichiraku was purposely focusing on the twins, who were praying and begging forgiveness now.

He almost wanted to laugh. The meals themselves were only smalls, and usually free for children if an adult buys a meal. Though it seemed cruel, the girls still seemed to be niggling his mind for some strange reason. Glancing at the third child, no longer trying to get attention as she stared at her friends in disbelief, his eyes sparkled. "Hm~, if you spend an hour helping, cleaning dishes, I'll let it go."

""Yatta!"" A moment later had the girls jumping for joy, hugging each other at the acceptance and forgiveness, though more in comfort of each other as emotions struggled to break out. It wasn't so much the fact that they were allowed to work it off so much as being forgiven and accepted, once again, even after wronging him, by one of the few people that had done so before. A man they never wanted to push away, and almost accidentally might have.

Hinata was still disbelief while the stall owner just chuckled at the children. He could remember several who were just as expressive. "Alright you two, follow me to the back." He looked at the third, almost regretfully at her sudden sad expression. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea? They seemed to have only just made friends. Still, his gut instincts were telling him this needed to be done. "I will charge the Hyuuga account, Hinata-sama. If you can, you may return in an hour to meet your friends. It won't take long."

She nodded sadly. "Ko will probably be looking for me soon…"

Her tone made it sound like she didn't want to return, which made the Teuchi's heart clench. For some reason he felt like he was splitting up a friendship before it even started now. "Ah, you can.. watch if you want? Maybe chat while they work?" He sighed in relief as the girl eagerly nodded. He had enough room for all three, with how small they were, but it was still going to be crowded.

"Come along you two, let's get you started."

* * *

Ooh~ Hiruzen an da Ninja feel them coming~!  
But can they find the twins?  
Or will the twins make a mistake?  
And Naru+Naru+Cleaning in a small space = ?

Sorry for the wait, I haven't been much in a writing mood, and I wanted to go back over each chapter of this story especially. For some reason I feel like I need to match the later parts together. Though I don't think there's much that needs to be fixed. I think… hope? Yea

I wonder if anyone can see where this is going?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Consequences!Warning!

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata was shivering, though it seemed she could burst out in laughter just easily as screaming out in terror. The tilt was centered, hence her shivering.

Ichiraku Teuchi was stoically stilled. It was unclear of his thoughts, though it might also be that he was passed out standing up. There just wasn't any way to tell.

Two little causes were balled up, trembling, soaked with dirty soap water and broth of various types, covered in noodles, vegetables, and a myriad of various tidbits needed to make Ramen. It was unclear as to what happened, but there was something distinctly wrong with the entire situation.

Needless to say, but the twins were the central cause of it all. There were pots dumped and spread all about, utensils broken or stuck in walls, and a myriad of random damages everywhere about the kitchen.

Taking a closer look at the true reason for such reactions from the two, one would only have to take a closer look at the twins themselves. Despite being covered in so much, it was quite easy to understand, should one have been born within Konoha.

The shivering twins, were literally 'balled up'. Peeking out from between a few of the tails, the girls were awaiting a reaction more than 'silence'. They hadn't meant to cause any damage. They had even tried to fix it before their Teuchi-jiisan saw. That obviously hadn't work, and then somehow he saw one of the girls ears, and then the other's tail got loose while trying to hide with her sister, which ended up causing more damage, and eventually they just wanted to disappear, which resulted with all nine tails appearing to wrap around the girls as they curled up inside.

All in all, they truly didn't even know what happened themselves. They had just wanted to fix things and hide! Neither had wanted any of this to happen! Hinata was no crying for some reason, which may have been reflected by the twins who were trying and failing to hold back their own, though the laugh/fear mixture was still present on Hinata's face. It was hard to figure her out. But the stall owner had yet to visibly react… Just as one of the twins looked towards the door in hopes that maybe they could just run away, that temporary thought was crushed.

"Explain." Despite the situation, the trouble the girls brought, and the twins themselves, and even himself, he could still understand that the children, all of them, were completely distraught. He himself was slightly scared, but considering the girl reactions, felt any fear dissipate. No matter their form or possible relation, he could see they hadn't meant to cause trouble. That didn't mean he was going to let them off easy.

""Eep!"" Shivering, they couldn't help their unnatural fear. This was one of, if not the only person left the twins felt they could trust. But this man didn't know them. Not here. Not in this time. They had disappeared before meeting him.

"W-We're" "S-S-Sorry!" The twins hid further within their tails, ears so flat against their heads they appeared nonexistent, and nearing the point of sobbing uncontrollably.

Ichiraku's hardened eyes softened slightly at the small terrified voices. No matter what he's looking at now, he had seen how the girls had interacted, how they were obviously hiding something, and how they were visibly showing remorse. More than that, he could see they were terrified of his reaction to their 'special' traits. Finally, he sighed. "Okay, we'll go over this from the beginning. For now, just calm down."

"Y-You won't tell on us..?"

"You w-won't turn us i-in?

"You won't te-t-tell the H-Hokage?"

Teuchi looked into the hopeful eyes of the frightened twins he had originally hoped were originally playing a prank. As much pain as it was to see something like them, as much as he hoped that what he had heard from the rumors wasn't true, as much as he wanted to deny what he was seeing, the pained man couldn't. But he also couldn't deny that, when ignoring their unique features, what he was seeing was two simple children, seemingly afraid for their lives, which they believed depended on his decision.

Which could very well be truth. "That depends on the two of you."

The shiver he saw was more telling than anything. Whatever the reason, they put stock in what he said. He really didn't know why, but they seemed to take everything about him seriously. Honestly, the damage wasn't even all that terrible. Though it looked bad, there was hardly any damage or loss. The stock was fine, and so were the important areas and tools. Everything was superficial, worth maybe a few hours work to fix, and a day or two of profit. "Come on, you two. Quit hiding…"

His final words held a slight warmth, which differed from everything previous. It was just enough to calm the twins enough to do so. Looking at each of them, it was obvious they were actually crying. Nodding, they followed his order, and pulled their tails behind them and into a single fluffier tail, poking through a small tear in their yukata.

A dark feeling came from Ichiraku again, causing them to shiver and look back at him with fear. It wasn't so much that it was dark, or how dark it was, but the fact that the anger was directed at the two of them. Shakily, but quickly, the two knelt in front of him in seiza, not wanting to feel it longer or darker than they had to. They would do anything to make it disappear from their Jii-san.

Thankfully, he had already put a sign out telling people he had taken the rest of the day off. The man had more important matters to take care of, obviously. Teuchi waited for the tails to disappear, but they merely dawdled for a few moments, staring at each other. As soon as he was going to tell them to hide it too, his patience shortening quickly, they looked up at him in fear and quickly sat as if awaiting punishment, trembling even more. Despite the confusing timing of their reaction, he ignored it. "Why is there still a tail still visible?"

He saw them look at each other, as if having a secret conversation, which they probably were - many ninja tend to do such. Seeing shinobi doing this was one thing, but for children to do so was a bit unsettling. He looked over at the Hyuuga heiress to see her slowly calming down. At this point, it she seemed more scared for her new friends than of them. He felt like he knew why, but ignored it for now.

"We can't hide the last tail or our ears." On of the twins spoke up fearfully, voice shaky.

They had to have hid it within their yukata, if that was the case. "What are your names? And I don't mean what Hinata-sama named you."

He noticed the two looking at each other once more, and frowned. "No silent speak."

The trouble girls looked up at him with wide disbelieving eyes. Their flat ears went even flatter as they looked down, if that was possible, which apparently was. "Sorry, Teuchi-Jiisan" They chorused together.

"M-My name is Narue."

"N-Narua?"

Now he wasn't a ninja, but he knew when something wasn't adding up. They knew his personal name, not just his family name, which he rarely gave out. And the second twin's response seemed even stranger. He'd leave that for later though. But the similar names had given him even more to think about. And it wasn't just of these two girls. "No family name?"

He watched as their trembled forms turned shaky. Obviously, they were frightened beyond belief at the mere mention. Then they looked at hinata, simultaneously, then back to him. Obviously this was something that was quite sensitive. "Do you not trust her?"

Seeing their wide eyes, he knew there was far more to this than even he could think of. Though that wasn't unusual with ninja affairs. The ramen owner may have believed they were the Kyuubi itself, given new form, if there was merely one of them. They had nine tails, and fox ears, and had an apparent age that led one to believe they could be born the night of the attack. But there were two of them, young, human in form, and definitely _not_ feeling dangerous. He waited for the two to come to a decision, even allowing them silent-talk.

"We're not sure?" "But maybe we could try?" "She hasn't once felt like the others since we met." "So maybe she won't tell anybody?" "..We don't really have anywhere to run to if she does, though." They looked at each other, shivering, their ears twisting and turning in emotional reflections. "But if we don't, she might tell?" "..What do we do?"

"A-Ano… I won't tell anyone! I promise!" The shy and quiet girl turned determined after getting their attention and a moment's pause. "..I promise…" She almost whispered, but still without stutter and completely confident.

Feeling nothing 'dark' from her, they nodded. They still felt the 'dark' feelings from Teuchi-Jiisan, but they couldn't fault him. They could only believe in him. And hope… "My name is Uzumaki Narue" The 'original' said as her 'sister' nodded.

Teuchi's eyes would have gone comically wide at their response, if he hadn't been expecting it somehow. His anger welled up again as he realized something was wrong with this entire situation. Suspiciously wrong and off. Something, everything, was just too strange. He needed more answers. He saw the relief in the girls as his anger died down some more, and only just realized they had nearly started crying again the instant he got angry. But he hadn't let his feeling show on his face, or had he?

He needed more information. This wasn't just some simple situation. "How old are you?"

"..We're not really sure?" They looked at each other frowning. "Maybe fourteen?" "No, remember?" "Oh yea! So, maybe five?" "Or six?" "Uh, we don't really know?"

That threw the man through a loop. Fourteen? Five or six? They looked almost six, seven at the absolute most. "When was your birthday?"

""October 10th""

Six. Now he knew for certain it was true, yet still wrong. He had met Kushina's child recently, and had actually started feeding him when the ill looking redhead came by, tired and hungry. Even going so far as to charge the price of one bowl for multiple. "Show me your faces."

The worried looks reappeared, but the twins quickly complied, pulling the slightly curled hair from their cheeks. Seeing the whiskers on their cheeks, an exact match to the face of the Uzumaki recently coming around, had him convinced of their relation. There really was something more going on. "Where are your parents?"

Their expressions could break hearts. It was a face that showed such a concept was foreign. A face of those who had never felt the love of a mother, the protection of a father. A face that was more confused than saddened. It was the face of an orphan. He quickly retracted his question. "Never mind. Do you know why you have such.. _special_ features?"

Their trembling started up again. He didn't know why, but it seemed this was a touchy subject. But this needed to be answered. "...W-We were told that we a-are the Ky-Kyuubi's rei-re-reincar-na-nation…?…." Tears fell across the whiskers of both trembling children.

Teuchi sighed. He couldn't guess as to how the girls obtained their features, but he knew from everything he'd seen that what they were told wasn't true. Especially with the Sandaime Hokage's word about what actually happened that night. "Who told you this?"

Both girls looked even worse at that question. "Someone bad." "He used me." "Lied to me" "Tried to kill me." "So we ran from him." "...He was a bad man." Both nodded fiercely at this.

Teuchi sighed tiredly. "Then why believe his words?"

This shocked the girls. Why had they believed him? But what are they then? His explanation made perfect sense. Why else would they look part fox? Why could they easily transform into one? They looked towards each other, shocked, confused, terrified, ""Then what am I?""

Teuchi had seen the late Yondaime sealing up ramen within a scroll for his pregnant wife several times. Though not versed in ninja arts, he could still see the truth, or at least understand similar concepts when explained. This was all still strange, but maybe they had been affected by the beast's chakra or something? Either way, he knew one entity couldn't become another. Chakra concepts were beyond him, but he knew that much.

Ramen sealed in a scroll didn't make the scroll ramen. And a demon, or maybe just some of its chakra, was probably sealed within the girls. He couldn't outright say Naruto's condition, but he could ask questions. "What happens when you seal a kunai within a scroll?"

They looked up in confusing. "It gets sealed within?"

"Does the scroll become the kunai?" The balding man continued.

"N-No?" The other twin answered.

"And if another person touches you with chakra, do you turn into them?"

"Eh?" "No?" "I don't think so, right?" "Of course not!" The last came from Hinata, surprisingly.

"So if the Kyuubi touched you, or was sealed within you, would you turn into the fox?"

All three girls shook their heads. Teuchi still didn't know what had happened to the twins - or was it triplets now? - to make them this way, but from everything he'd seen, learned from the Yondaime's and Kushina's many visits to his stall, and heard from the Third Hokage himself soon after the attack, then the beast was sealed within another child, unable to influence anyone outside of it. Whatever these two girls were, it wasn't a demon fox. They didn't even seem to know what they were. "Trust me, neither of you are the Kyuubi. Not that I have any clue as to why you look as you do."

Haruna and Fuyuna, Narue and Narua looked at one another, a strange expression on either face, though perfectly reflected by the other.

"The scroll!" Both suddenly shouted, before turning back towards Teuchi. "We didn't look like this before," "instead we were perfectly normal," "but we did still have the whiskers, "and it was only until we used a 'forbidden'.." "seal?.." "that we changed!"

"Hm~" He subtly eyed Hinata swaying in her chair from the back and forth talking of the twins. Still, this just added more questions. Somehow it felt less like he was scolding children, trying to figure out what to do with them, and more like he was piecing a puzzle together. But he knew now that he was right, that these girls were truly human. Or used to be? It's all questionable at this point, but there wasn't much use in speculating.

It wasn't really that important anyways, Teuchi decided. Though he knew otherwise, it wasn't something they'd be able to figure out. "Why don't you want the Hokage to know?"

Teuchi shivered at the temperature drop within the room. The dull look upon the twins faces told him all he needed to know, but he got an answer nonetheless.

"We don't trust him." "He says one thing then does another." "Or he doesn't do anything at all when he should." "Even though he's the leader," "he won't help us." "He should have," "no, he had to have known," "or maybe ordered it himself." "He won't help us." "Especially now." "Even if he tries.." "He probably wouldn't help." "If he even could," "or would…" At least, neither thought so.

Their words and tone made it sound like they knew the Hokage well. Whatever had happened between the two children and the village leader had somehow burned any bridges between them. Somehow they had been able to hide, and soon after became part fox, and they didn't trust the man with their newest secret. It was a generalized idea hypothesized from their words, but as much as he was likely to get. Was it just him, or was the room still cold? "Any relation to Uzumaki Naruto that you know of?"

He almost wanted to laugh at the mirroring tilt of their heads, still partly covered in noodles. If his kitchen wasn't a mess, and the situation so serious, he probably would have chuckled at the sight.

"Naruto?" "Wait, did you say Uzumaki?" "Uzumaki Naruto?!" "There's someone else with our name?!" Their surprise gave him his answers. Strange though that the three children of Kushina - did she really have triplets? he thought it was a single child - hadn't known of each other. "Uzumaki Naru…" He heard the last, though merely a whisper. It seemed they too had noticed the similar naming style.

Though he had realized it earlier, their relationship was becoming more and more obvious as siblings. Naruto, Narue, and Narua. It was the biggest reason he had let up so much, as well as refused to believe the twins were 'the demon fox reincarnated'. All three had such similar personality traits to Kushina… Not to mention the obvious resemblance to their parents.

""We have a brother?!"" The exclaimed quite loudly, fully of hope. Neither had heard of heard of him before. Actually, if Teuchi had known of this boy before the incident, why hadn't he said anything? Everything was weird! Were they wrong to trust him too? But he said it now, so maybe he just hadn't known before? It was all so confusing!

"Hai, I've started helping him out lately. He has straight red hair down to his chin, blue eyes, looks a little feminine, kind of like the both of you, and even has whiskers on each cheek." He gauged their reactions, before deciding they hadn't known about this either. If this was true, then they really did have reason to mistrust the Hokage. He smiled sadly, "come on, let's clean up. Don't worry about hiding your features inside the kitchen. Nobody will see them back here. We'll keep them a secret, right Hinata-sama?"

The twins turned to the third girl in shock, completely forgetting her. But seeing her nod, they smiled, new tears sprouting, this time of happiness. "Th-Thank you both." "Really… Thank you."

"Alright, alright, enough. Get to work cleaning your mess!" The ramen stall owner scolded sternly. The scramble of children followed a short instant later, except with three girls instead of two. He hadn't meant for that reaction, but shrugged it off with a small smile.

"Three Uzumaki… Things are definitely going to get interesting." HIs quiet mutter, whether amused or fearful, he himself couldn't tell, went unnoticed in the clanging of the cleaning scatter.

* * *

So~ We have Teuchi and Hinata in on the secret!  
Uzumaki Naruto? What's the meaning of this?!  
..Who cares? We have noodle covered foxified twins in the kitchen!

Anyone have any thought? Ideas? Wants? Noodled Foxgirls?  
(No Pairings Decided Yet! Probably a long ways off?)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

"Here, put this on the top shelf."  
"Eh? But doesn't it-"  
"Yea, but not this time. It needs to be out of the way for now."  
"Hai, hai. Then put this over-"  
"Kay! Ah, you should probably heat up another pot."  
"Huh? But-"  
"We're out of it."

"Three small Salt Ramen!"

Two pairs of slitted eyes turned towards the shop owner and nodded understanding.

"See? Need more!"  
"Hai!"  
"..The ingredients are ready!"

"Good work girls."

The twins looked at each other with large smiles, before turning back. "Arigato Gozaimasu Teuchi-Jiisan!"

"You can go for the day. I'll take care of the rest."

""Hai!"" The two chirped happily.

Fuyuna pulled her apron off, slid her tail back into her yukata, and pulled her hood back over her head. Looking over, she saw Haruna had similarly hidden her features. "Ready?"

Haruna nodded. "Let's go back."

Heading out the side of the building, the twins made way past many people. They'd only been at it for a few days, but they were truly enjoying themselves helping their Jii-san. They'd even seen Ayame come by once. She was apparently going to the academy still, so she wouldn't be able to help during the day like they were used to.

It took some time, but they had eventually made their way back into the forest. Narue, Haruna, didn't know whether it was sad or not, but their home, a 'hole in the ground', was far more comfortable than anywhere they'd lived before the 'incident'. A bed of flowers, in a cavern hidden from the world, in a forest that few traverse, was a far more pleasant home than an apartment with a mangy bed, surrounded by villagers that scorned her very existence. Though it may have something to do with the sister she, they, had gained in each other.

Back in Konoha Tower, Hiruzen was grimly looking out his window. Once more, the 'presence' had dissipated. It had already been more than two weeks since its appearance. They had yet to find the source. The sensors couldn't find anyone pumping out enough chakra to cause such a constant effect in so short a time. They would have noticed it.

His only relief was that the pressure itself held no 'threat' as it made itself known daily. In fact, most of the force had nearly forgotten it by now. The fact that it was a 'pleasant' sensation had dulled their need to find it. Only those more sensitive to chakra could still outright sense it, and only sensors themselves are still actively looking for the person capable of outputting such incredible amounts without fatigue.

Whatever this person was capable of, it was far more than he. At this point, the Second God of Shinobi was actually afraid of whatever they'd find. Afraid they would come across this person and turn his or her 'pleasant' presence into something far more terrifying pressure. While he would be capable of doing something similar, it would only be for a short time. Nowhere near the weeks of constant use that have shaken the man.

He sighed as it almost completely disappeared. Instead of searching for the source of the chakra, he's had his force search for a person who is walking about at certain times of the day. Specifically within the timeframe that the 'presence' appears and dissipates. The morning is more random, but the evening time is relatively the same. So far there's been no luck. The timing fits more than half the village…

Meanwhile, a certain Hyuuga girl sighed sadly. Once more, she flowed through the stiff kata of the Gentle Fist style. And once more, was stiffly and harshly told to do it again. Ever since sneaking out, she had her routine forcibly doubled up. Every day she had fallen in bed, exhausted, with little to no time together with her baby sister.

She could feel her friends coming out every day, and terribly wanted to meet them again. The way they had parted was frustrating. Somehow, Kyuubi's chakra had altered their bodies into something different. Though it was really, _really_ cute… Especially their faces when petting their fur. It's like they really were part fox. Though, they probably, kind of, were…

She couldn't help but blush, realizing she was fantasizing about petting them.

"FOCUS!"

Hinata eeped at the stern shout from the elder. Once more, she followed the given directions on her taijutsu. One more day of harsh practice, one more day of exhaustion. It would be obvious she couldn't run off alone if she were too tired to do so. After the Kumo incident when she was four, it would be problematic if she ran away only to get kidnapped again.

It was going to be a long month of punishment.

* * *

"Come on, nee-chan! Just one more step!"

"You say that like it's easy! I _still_ can't believe you stayed up all night to do this without _just to gloat_!" The plant user complained. She frowned at the following giggle. "You do know this means war, right?"

"EH?! But it was just a joke!" Fuyuna/Narua quickly countered.

"Fufu, pranks come in all forms. You prank me, I prank back!" Her foxy smirk widened, as she ran forward and up the tree without hands. Her bare feet trekked halfway up, to just below her sisters branch. At the last instance before slipping, she managed to touch the limb, then allowed gravity to work.

"Ahaha! Not close eno-EEK!" Feeling something slipping around her foot, Fuyuna frantically tried to jump away, only to get stuck in mid-air and fall. Unsurprisingly, she ended up suspended under the large branch a couple meters down. She crossed her arms in pout as she hung there knowing escape would be tough in such a situation.

"Told you~" Haruna/Narue stated, satisfied. "Now you can hang tight while I finish up." Though it had taken weeks to get most of the way up the overly large trees, it was already in the final stretch. And if her sister finished overnight, then she should be capable of it by the end of the day. Her sister can wait until then...

* * *

"Tou-chan! Are those real?!" A sweet voice came from the doorway.

All movement froze at the voice. Twin slits turned towards the source, causing the girl to flinch slightly. All fear quickly dissipated leaving the two smiled brightly. "Of course they're real!" "Do you wanna see?" "We don't mind, so long as you don't tell anyone!"

"Go on, you all can take a break. It's slow right now." The male voice outside called in.

Closing the door, Ayame watched the swaying tail of a twin, mesmerized by the large appendage. Before she knew it, the fluff was already within her grasp, and a hand stroking through it. Or so she'd thought. It took a few moments to realize her hands were stroking a fuzzy ears upon a child's head.

"Aww~ but I wanted to be first!" The dismayed voice went unheard by the other two, both in bliss from the feeling of fur, or melting from gentle ministrations. "Hmph…" Soon a smirk found its way upon her face. Turning around, a blonde tail swayed in front of the brown haired girls face. A small whine told her of her success, then she too followed in the melt of pleasure.

Before she knew it, Ayame was petting two of the softest furry heads and tails she had ever had the pleasure of touching. Similarly, the two under her ministrations were in a world of their own. The only comparison was their first friend, but they hadn't seen her in a while. Despite knowing from experience what feels best along their fur, it seemed neither twin was capable of truly pleasuring themself or sister.

*Cough!* Startled, three girls jumped and looked towards the Ramen God, trying to hide the red creeping upon their faces. "I could use a bit of help, if you three don't mind?" Though he looked like he had sinned by interrupting the girls enjoyment, he had a small backup of customers outside. Though rare, it was one of the few days Ayame had time to help her father.

Trying to force their blushes away, three girl's scrambled to do as asked…

* * *

"Are you really going to do this? You know it will hurt..." Despite the words, her face was showing excitement at the thought.

"Mhn~ And I know you're going to be following me not long after." Haruna looked down at the water over fifteen meters below. Over ten times their own height down. While it doesn't look terrible, a fall like that nearly makes water seem like rock.

"Well, at least I'll get to see if it's really worth the experience before I do." The obvious pout followed. But instead of a reply, Haruna merely released the chakra flowing into her feet, allow her body to drop. She rearranged herself to be feet first.

* _Splash!*_

Fuyuna watched in apprehension for a moment, then sighed in relief as a figure quickly emerged. A second later, she had released her chakra hold and allowed gravity to take her. One second, two, and _*SPLASH!*_

The pain felt was _FAR_ worse than she figured! Haruna had quickly come out, but had obvious hid what she felt from her face. Though she felt nothing broken, having slightly stronger bodies than they used to, it still hurt for a few moments… Soon enough the damage had healed up and she headed towards the surface.

"Wow… you spent a while down there." Haruna stated, matter-of-factly. "I know it hurt, but I thought you'd come out quickly, like I did."

Fuyuna, not seeing anything smugness or other abject expression upon her sister's face, pushed her previous thoughts away. It wasn't true, apparently. Maybe Haruna had simply got out quickly to avoid her fall. "Yea.. that hurt! ...Let's not do that again if we can help it?" She pleaded, thankfully getting a nod.

* * *

"Hey girls, prepare for a large batch…"

Confused eyes turned towards their 'employer'. "Why do you feel so sad?" "And why do you need a large batch for a single person?" "Girl's don't eat that much here," "and there's only one out there." "We already have enough ready."

Teuchi let them ramble on for a moment. Girl? "The kid outside eats a lot… and probably needs it."

Despite themselves, the two nodded. They knew there were some capable of eating vast amounts of food quickly, themselves included, but so far they hadn't come across any while helping. This was a first. Quickly, they had started up a few batches of ingredients as their Jii-san prepared and made the ramen itself. He stopped before walking out, and glanced at the two girls helping.

Though they only got a bowl a day, if they did eat, which was all the twins asked for in return for helping, they had thoroughly enjoyed helping about the kitchen. Their work was enough to pay for several large bowls a day, but they had declined, even after paying the man back. There was a bigger reason for helping, and he knew it too.

He was sure they would have still helped, regardless. "Don't let him see you, and don't follow him around, especially if you want to stay hidden from the Hokage. But you both should take a look at this customer when you get a chance."

Glancing at each other, now even more confused, the twins followed Teuchi to the door, quickly donning their hoods and hiding their tails. They had changed the yukata to have a hole flap. It didn't look like it was even there until in use, but worked wonderfully. Obscured by sight, they listened to the sad voice as it replied to being unable to buy so much ramen, only to be rebutted by a 'sale' that day. The happy cries of the child were nearly heartbreaking. It reminded them of their time getting ramen in similar ways, and how they had felt and acted.

Finally, when Teuchi-jiisan moved back a little, they saw the reason. The 'Uzumaki' that Teuchi had told them about. Straight red hair, blue eyes, whiskered cheeks. The girls slid back into the kitchen with wide eyes. "That's not me…"

"No…" Narua looked back at her original, though she still felt just as real. "That's not right? Shouldn't she should have blonde hair?"

"But, if that's not me, then where am I?"

"I don't know...? Maybe she really is us? me? Just with her hair dyed?"

"...We'll think about it later. For now, let's just believe that she's us, but with red hair. I don't know why she's dressed like a boy, but she's definitely…"

"Yea... She's me, you?, us? Agh, so confusing!" She pouted for a second before returning to the situation. "Why did Teuchi-jiisan tell us not to be seen?"

"I don't know… but there must be a reason? Still, we have her scent, and can find her." Sniffing the air, Haruna mimicked her sister. Over the time within the forest, they'd quickly learned that others were tracking them by smell, and started adapting to it when they learned it was possible. Though they couldn't go too detailed, they were both capable of memorizing specific people or animals.

"It's similar, but still so different… But we smell kinda like fox, right?"

"Yeah... Teuchi-Jiisan doesn't want us to be seen… Then," "we'll just have to do it another way." They mirrored foxy smirks.

* * *

It's my Birthday~!  
Hope you all enjoy today's release :3  
Happy Valentines Day~!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

* * *

A lone child was walking down the road, ignoring her grumbling stomach.

The surrounding people were often glaring or completely ignoring her again, but this was normal. She smiled as the instant ramen within her shopping bag was once again on her mind. It wasn't often that she went shopping, but every time she did, they had 'cheap' ramen. Everything else cost more than her entire allowance usually, so she was glad there was some available today.

Of course it was similar everywhere else. She would be sad that she couldn't afford anything herself, but knowing that you don't have parents to provide, she had long since gotten over this. With her apartment in sight, she smiled. Though it wasn't big, and nobody else living there, it had been her home for as long as she could remember.

Though she wished the masked men would start coming again. It was lonely otherwise…

Not that any of them talked! What is with them anyways? She couldn't help but think they were more like sticks in mud whenever around. No reactions, no words, no anything! But they did at least help out...

She cut herself off before going deeper into what others had that she didn't.

Just as she was about to take a step up the stairs, a sound echoed off the walls. It was strange, because she'd never heard anything like it. A scratch and thump, but from where? She looked around to find nothing visible. Then a small sniffing sound caught her attention. Leaning over, she peered under the stairs.

Narumi blinked at the slitted eyes that seemingly glowed within the dark. Strangely, the creature's eyes followed her own as she tilted her head at the strangeness of it all. Was it a cat? "What are you doing here?"

Obviously a cat wouldn't understand her words. Seeing as the hiding animal wasn't moving, she assumed this one wouldn't either. "Wonder what you're hiding from.." Her brows furrowed. This time, the cat did respond. She watched the glowing eyes close the gap between them. A golden furred kitty with the fluffiest tail she had ever seen came out from under the stairs.

"Kyaa!" Narumi landed on her bottom, rubbing her now wet face. The unexpected lick had surprised her more than anything. Never before had an animal allowed her so close, let alone shown anything but fear! Her wide eyes just watched as the kitty tilted its head, obviously confused. Then she noticed the twin red stripes that coursed along its back. "C-Cute…"

"Kyaaa! What's with you?!" She caught the kitty as it jumped into her chest, licking her face again. Huffing, Narumi glared at the animal, before that quickly turned into the brightest smile anyone could have seen on her features in years, and started scratching the kitty behind its ears. "You really like me, huh?"

The purring response made her giddy, and she caressed the kitty in with her free arm, while the other held it gently. "Most animals run from me.. but not you. Maybe you'd like to be my friend? I don't really have one of those, ya know? 'ttebane?"

The purring got louder, causing Narumi to giggle. Not even wondering if there was an owner to her new friend, she took the kitty up the stairs with her weekly allowance of ramen cups.

A black mask-wearing figure slid into the not-empty apartment after her ward. She had seen the entire event. She had seen every event from the morning on. This was normal, and while she wanted to interfere, was forbidden. There were no laws broken, no physical abuse, and no 'cause' for interference. It was only her duty to protect, not to interact.

As per duty, she watched the fox suspiciously. Though unable to tell what it was, she did know it was physically there. No **Henge** , **Genjutsu** , nor any form of deception was apparent. Though the fox felt strange, she couldn't place it. For a moment she felt a strange Deja Vu, like there was a feeling she was missing. It felt natural, somehow, kind of like nature. Maybe even exuding the chakra the forest had been doing lately, but tossed the idea away. Why would a fox feel like the forest? But tossing the forest's chakra out, she couldn't feel anything else from it, just like any normal fox. Basically, there wasn't anything suspicious aside from its random likeness of her ward.

Though there was a rumor of strange striped foxes within the forest. Maybe the reason it felt like the forest was because it actually lived there? That would make sense. But weren't there two? Well, so long as there wasn't any danger, then it was fine. Their unique appearance may have something to do with the Kyuubi's chakra. Maybe it had altered the kit somehow to give it such an appearance. That would also explain why it the girl and fox had come across each other.

Still, she would keep a watchful eye. That was her job, after all.

* * *

 _WHAT?!_

 _Someone is watching her…_

 _I heard, but why?! ..Did Teuchi-Jiisan know?_

…

 _Fuyuna?_

…

 _Narua? ..Narua?! ...NARUA!_

 _Eek! WHAT?!_

 _...you went quiet._

 _y-yea, sorry?_

… _..she's petting you, isn't she?_

 _..._

 _*Sigh~* we're switching tomorrow, dattebane._

 _EH?! B-BU-_

 _Nope! We're swapping! I wanna see her too! And it's better than trying things that hurt just to see what our bodies can do. Even if we need to find out what's different about our new bodies, I really don't want to do that stuff every day!_

 _Th-then we're going to keep swapping!_

 _...Fine, but remember, nothing too dangerous alone. No jumping from tall trees anymore. No holding breath underwater for minutes. No d-_

 _I get it! I get it! Now let me enjoy this!_

Fuyuna looked back up at the smiling redhead, ignoring her indignant sister. This drew her attention, but nothing was said. Instead, she stretched up and licked again, causing the human to lightly shriek again. Despite not liking the taste, it wasn't necessarily bad. It just seemed natural to do. But the reaction was quite funny. Call her what you want, but a tricker and prankster she, both twins, remain. Ignoring the indignant huffs of the redhead, Narua looked towards the upper corner of the wall for a moment, before succumbing to she who still kept the blissful strokes rubbing along soft fur, causing Narua to lay her head back down to rest and fall into pleasured slumber.

* * *

Wearily, the ANBU watched the fox.

The fox turned its head back at to stare at her, despite her near invisibility within the room. Worry turned to slight fear at this. It's nothing new that an animal could pick her out, but this was a red fox, and it had turned to _look_ at her. Not just glance, sniff, and wander off. A _red_ fox _looked_ at her. She could only stay tensed as it turned its head and laid it back upon her wards lap. The long-haired ANBU knew it was merely paranoia due to having seen the Kyuubi itself, but the fox still unnerved her, somehow.

This was the second day another fox had shown up. A different fox, yet oh so similar. _Different_ when it should be the _same_. She could safely say that this creeped her out. It was abnormal. Completely and terribly abnormal. Even more, it had the same twin pattern of colored stripes starting from its eyes, down the side of its face and back, that the other had. That's not to mention the familiar stripes that started from the same place, up to the tufts inside its ears, just like the Kyuubi had. Were they siblings? They had to be. Though it could be the same fox, just with its color changed. That would be even worse though.

Still, the first hadn't done anything, and this one was acting the same. So far there was no perceived threat. Just a confusing abnormality. It unsettled her though. Especially when it looked at her when her worry peaked. Those eyes showed intelligence. Though not uncommon, wasn't something comforting either. She knew the Inuzuka dogs were as intelligent as humans. This fox showed similar eyes to such dogs.

But the fact that she remembered rumors about twin fox kits in the Senju Forest removed any idea of shinobi, allied or foreign, of having likely set this up. For nearly two years, these two had been randomly appearing before children that wandered the forest. All evidence heard had pointed towards them being peaceful. But why were they outside the forest?

She would report this, but somehow knew it would be overlooked as nothing more than coincidence. No matter how much curiousity those in charge might have towards the foxes, there was little to no evidence about a devious plot happening. Logic dictated that this might eventually happen in hindsight.

ANBU or not, the hair upon the back of her neck still stood on end from when that creature had looked at her. Not-red-eyes. That was all it took to finally realize she was overreacting. Logic rarely dictated emotion, but look through enough, and it might eventually affect it. Again, the fox felt like the Senju Forest. No malevolent chakra, no red eyes, and a different shade fur with unique stripes. This wasn't the Kyuubi, nor was it even a piece of it, not that she'd ever heard of such a thing. Even if both had looked directly at her… It was just a fox.

The were just foxes…

* * *

 _I couldn't see the person watching us..._

 _Right?! It was so weird!_

 _..Do you think we had someone watching us too?_

 _If she's us, then probably?_

 _But for how long?_

 _...I think I remember someone giving us food when we were really young?_

 _Ah, me too, kind of?_

Haruna purred as the fingers slid down her back once more. _I think I know why you didn't.. respond._

 _Hehe, already putting you to sleep?_

 _*Purr~*_

 _...Don't do that! It feels too weird in my head!_

"Mn~ I wonder if the other kitty will come back tomorrow?"

 _Hehe, she like you._ Haruna opened her eyes to look about the place. It was small, even for an apartment, but easily big enough for a lone child to live. A single room with a kitchen, resting area, and futon all fit within. This was the apartment she had seen so many times, and left behind from the future.

She was nearly certain that this girl was her now. But why did she have red hair? Everything was just as she remembered seeing in the mirror years ago. Except the red hair. It was also shorter than either could ever remember it being. Just down to her chin, except for the shorter bangs. And she was wearing boys clothes, a simple t-shirt and shorts. If neither had picked up the scent, or knew beforehand by simply being the same person, they might have assumed she was a boy. Even Teuchi-Jiisan didn't pick up on it.

She - they - could remember the Hokage giving them Yukata when they were younger. Though they moved on to wearing that jumpsuit later on, since it was all they - she - could afford in the clothes section when shopping. She couldn't depend on Jiji for everything. It did help keep the paint and stuff off when playing pranks, thankfully.

 _Well, she'll see me tomorrow! Hehe~_

 _Hey, I was thinking…_ Narue paused, wondering if it really was a good idea. This girl was her, them, from the past, so would she accept it? Hearing the rumbling vibration again, she decided It didn't matter, she hoped so. _Lets swap out working with Teuchi-Jiisan._

 _Ah, I forgot! We haven't seen him since we started looking for her!_

 _No, no, I mean..._

* * *

"Oho, there you two are. I was wondering when you'd come back" Teuchi smiled a the hooded twins. "Almost been lonely during the day without you, with Ayame in the academy and all."

Their smiled faltered after being ushered into the back. Teuchi almost didn't notice it, but when the two children didn't rush off, he knew something was eating the two. "Are you both okay?"

Sharing a quick glance, Narua/Fuyuna nodded. Taking a deep breath, the other sister steeled herself. "We would like you to help feed our sister." Both twins bowed. Their nervousness was apparent.

Ichiraku raised an eyebrow. "Don't I do that already? When you two are hungry, you're welcome to a bowl. You've already paid off your debt for destroying my kitchen last month."

"...Naruto." "We want any food that you might give us to go to her." "Please?" Neither raised her head. They just waited for a response.

"*Sigh~* What about you two?"

"We don't need to eat." "But she does." "Her stomach is always growling." "She needs more." "While we don't." ""We're fine, so please?""

After a long pause, the ramen chef sighed again. "Alright. If you two are sure you don't need any, then your work will go towards feeding your brother."

""Yatta!""

Teuchi smiled at the over exuberance of the girls. Though it had taken a few days, their work had improved drastically. It had allowed him some leeway during his job, as well as allowing him to serve more customers quicker. It was a small price to pay to feed them, or their sibling if they wished. But, "ramen isn't healthy to have every day. While I can give him what you work off, his body won't grow well without a proper diet."

Wide eyes turned towards the food expert. ""EH?!"" "Can't you just make a healthy ramen then?" "Yea, there has to be something you can make for her."

"..I suppose so. I'll have to get a few extra ingredients daily then." Their smiles were contagious. "We'll see what I can create for the boy."

"You're awesome Jii-san!" "The best!" He chuckled at the hugs. He'd slowly grown accustomed to the fuzzy tails wrapping around his legs as they tried to tackle him from either side. "Yea, we can't thank you enough," "for helping out our sister!"

Teuchi smiled, but he wondered who was teaching these girls? "You should reference a boy as 'him' or 'he' or 'brother'."

"..Huh?" The mirrored sound on either side of him was dizzying. He kind of understood why Hinata-sama reacted as she did when they talked. "But she's our sister?" "A girl?" "We can smell it!"

The response was unexpected. Uzumaki 'Naruto' was a girl? How could that be? But if these two say so with such certainty, then who was he to refute it? Teuchi couldn't be certain himself, but the kid did look a bit feminine, despite the ragged clothes. It brought up far too many questions, but gave him even more incentive to feed the child. "I understand. Now, shall we get started?"

He happily watched as two scurrying girls happily flowed about the kitchen, preparing his ingredients for the day. This scene was a happy recurrence that he was slowly coming to enjoy.

* * *

So we have a little more insight into various little things here and there.  
They were testing how high they can jump without pain, and if there was, how much they could withstand.  
They climbed up the stupid tall trees in the forest and jumped into the bottom of the waterfall.  
Also, stupid site removing my formatting again... MY UNDERLINES DISAPPEAR NOW! Q_Q

 **Thank You all for reading! :3**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - Shadow!Warning!

* * *

A small shadow could almost be seen as it slipped behind a wall.

The hiding entity looked around in the slowly brightening daylight. Few people were about, but it was still too early to safely move around. Last time, several people had tried to corner her before she could get to the Hokage's tower, nearly succeeding. But that wasn't her destination this morning. Her stomach grumbled in protest at the mere thought of her reasons to be out.

Not seeing anyone in along the road, she took off towards the next closest alley that was still hidden from anyone that she couldn't see before. Each change in location gave a slightly different perspective, and a different area of sight. She knew the furthest travel point from one alley to another, that still guaranteed safety.

Another few shifts brought her into sight of the greatest place in her world - Ichiraku's Ramen. The balding old man let her eat, didn't glare, actually talked to her, and was actually nice. He was the second person in her life to do more than ignore her existence, spit or glare in her direction, or simply curse her away.

Smiling brightly, Narumi watched as two cute girls entered the back. She'd seen them enter a few times, but only just realized they were there to help the man fix food. The last time, she had actually tried it while they were there, hoping it wouldn't make her sick like other places did sometimes, when they actually allowed her to eat. The little redhead didn't know why, but she felt that 'people' were the reason she felt bad, not just the food. And two new people helping make her favorite food upset her a little. But she tried it a few days before, and it still tasted the same. So she was going to try again.

Just as the owner turned the sign, she fled under the flaps. A few times she had eaten there with others either sitting within, or people coming in as she was already there. Both times, she felt that they left too quickly, and it was her fault. Despite the owner's rebuttal that it was fine when she asked, she could tell that it was her fault, and should avoid allowing it to happen. So she either came early morning or late night when nobody else would come.

Her smile could light up even the sun as she watched the adult walk out the kitchen. "Hey Jii-san, I have a little money! Think I could have a bowl of Miso?" Her excited voice was quiet, much different than usual, but she didn't want to draw attention while trying to hide her presence from others.

"Of course. How many would you like Naru-chan?" Almost startled by the change in address and tone, she completely missed the thoughts of money or related thoughts.

"A-Ah? Just one?" Her eyes just watched as the man nodded with a smile and walked back into the kitchen. Her mouth hung open, eyes still staring at the spot he disappeared through.

"..Huh?" It wasn't until a bowl was placed in front of her that she took notice of his returned presence. Looking down, she nearly fell off the chair with a surprise squeal, "this isn't a small!"

"Mn, I'll get started on another, just in case you want it. Make sure to take time to enjoy it."

Narumi just stared at the disappearing man. Now almost totally freaking out, she looked down. The scent easily had her mouth watering in the short instant it had been in front of her. Drool quickly escaped her mouth. Her stomach started protesting again, and this time didn't stop. Soon enough, the craziness flew to the back of her mind, and she started shoving the holy food into her mouth.

It wasn't until the third bowl was nearly depleted that she came back to herself. Seeing the fourth put in front of her, she almost thought of ignoring it in favor of asking her questions. Almost.

Soon, it too had disappeared into her bottomless stomach. She leaned back in bliss, eyes glazed over from eating a full meal for once. Though they weren't the large bowls, they had been bigger than her usual. The sounds of footsteps outside broker her out of the dream, and her body tensed again. Thankfully it was just passing by the stand. Narumi sighed in relief at not driving a customer from the stand.

"Thank You Oji-san!" Narumi smiled, then dug her small hand into her shorts pocket. She realized she didn't have enough to pay for so much, and was obviously horrified at her actions!

"Don't worry about it, Naru-chan." The gentle voice stopped her thoughts once more. She looked up at the man questioningly. "It's already been paid for. A someone or two decided that you need to eat more, and is taking care of the cost. I can't name who, but don't worry about it, and come by every day if you can."

Stinging sprung up in her eyes. Someone was paying for her? The Hokage was already giving her an allowance. And Ichiraku-san said it wasn't him. But who else could it be? She didn't know anyone else! Her lips trembled at the rare kindness, tears springing forth. "Th-Thank You-u"

He waved it off, "don't thank me. It's their idea. I couldn't do this otherwise. Just come more often, will you?" He left off that he probably could, but it would probably put his business under if he tried. The two helpin him out really did allow him to take care of customers much easier, faster, and give them better service. Having people spread around the fact that he allowed the 'demon brat' to eat at had really drained his business recently. So providing better quality service to pull them back was truly a godsend. It did help that the girl in question tried to avoid others when she realized it herself, but he wouldn't, couldn't, blame her.

"Tell th-them thank you for me?" She nearly sobbed out, but kept from breaking down. She had to get going soon. Otherwise she might cause problems. She dropped from the high stool with his nod of assent. Peeking between the flaps, she waited for a clear opening before dashing to a nearby alley. Narumi exited the other side and ran towards another, quickly doing the same. Finally, she started walking along the streets normally.

For the rest of the day her thoughts kept flowing back to the chef's change and the random kindness given to her. Who knows, maybe she could meet the person someday soon? Then she would have a third precious person in her life!

* * *

 _Run! Run! RUN!_

Four padded feet hurried as quickly as they could move across the road. Golden fur fluttered in the wind. A tail flitted back and forth to keep balance. Ears swiveled as they heard the quickened steps chasing after her.

 _Kyaa! I can't believe I took this day!_

 _Eh? What's wrong?!_

 _I'm b-being chased! Stupid man won't give up!_

 _Run up a wall or something?!_

Eyes glinting at the idea, the small fox-shaped girl quickly turned towards the nearest building before simply doing just that. Her pads left the dirt covered road and up the wooden building. She could hear cursing below her as she continued up to the roof. As soon as she reached the top though, she almost regretted it. Two rooftops away, a black figure had just leapt towards her direction. Fur quickly standing on end, Fuyuna's heart froze at the incoming sight.

A second later, the figure flew over her, completely ignoring her existence. Her body shivered, baffled at not getting attacked, captured, or any other possibility. Slowly, her puffed out fur flatted. Looking behind her found nothing but the inner wall of the rooftop. Blinking owlishly, she followed it down to just underneath her feet. _Yellow…_ _The stupid roof is completely yellow!_

She felt like laughing, but the narrow miss kept her from doing so. Though it wasn't her exact shade, most of the roof was painted golden, with lumber spread about it. The shades produced by the unused wood, and reflecting yellow from the rest had somehow hidden her from sight.

Moving across to the other side, she carefully walked down into another alley, and back into the darkness. More footsteps caught her attention, and she quickly hid underneath more trash and boxes. Once more, her purser flashed by, but without a goal within sight anymore. Black tipped nose poked out from the hidey hole as the cursing grew distant. _Finally got away… Oh, don't traverse the rooftops._

 _Eh?_

 _Just… don't._

 _Okay?_

Once more on her way, the golden fox followed her nose. Her sharp eyes picking out the best places to hide and scamper to. Inexperience had her going back and forth to get further without being seen as dead ends kept popping up. But eventually she found her goal sitting alone in on a tree swing in the park. Unable to get close without being seen, the ice fox stayed in the surrounding shrubbery.

Not knowing when the obvious sad child would be leaving, and not one for sitting still for too long, Fuyuna darted from bush to bush, eventually ending up in the one closest in front of the redhead. She kept herself visible to the girl, but not to much else. The bush easily covered the sides and back, but not the front where she was purposefully attempting to garner attention.

A child, though much further away than the redhead, turned towards her direction, and she easily slid back behind the leaves. Soon enough the child's attention was upon something else, and the golden fox was once more attempting to garner attention.

Finally, the redhead shifted her gaze back in front of her, and away from the other children. Blue eyes noticed a tiny movement within a bush some ways from her, finding a color that should not be within the green. Her brows furrowed as she squinted. The moment happened again, and she got up from the swing. She kneeled in front of the plant, trying to make out the strangeness within.

"Kya!" Once her face was close enough to the bush, a foxy face poked out so quickly she didn't realize what it was until she felt the wet lick against her cheek. Narumi blinked as she rubbed the wet spot. "You!" Her voice lit with happiness. "You're back again!"

The fox leapt out of the bush and into the lap of her giggling 'sibling'. Soon enough, Fuyuna was drowning in the pleasure that is petting. Purring her approval, she nearly fell asleep to the bliss. Only when it stopped did she remember why she was looking so hard today. Unlike the last few weeks, where the twins would only show up around evening when their sister went back home, today she had a different goal.

Leaping off her affectionate sister, Fuyuna once more entered the bush. She didn't notice the pout of the redhead, but knew that she would want more attention. Darting out the side of the bush, the golden fox quickly disappeared into another. Looking back, she knew that Narumi had seen it, and patiently waited. Finally, the human got up and walked over. Once within reach, gold fur once more darted to another bush, causing a deeper pout on her siblings face.

This continued until the Uzumaki in human form finally caught on, and started chasing the little fox. She didn't even realize that they'd eventually left the playground and back into the village. Though when the fox didn't run from its hiding place, Narumi finally noticed others were around. Just as she started thinking about it, the fox ran into another hiding spot across the road. Narumi followed again.

A few more times of this had her realizing the little fox was actually avoiding the sight of the surrounding people. Just as she had been doing in the mornings as she secreted to Ichiraku's! Laughing, Narumi turned it into a game, and started following the fox's example to not be seen. She couldn't help but wonder if all animals acted this way. The chase picked up pace as they entered more and more secluded areas of the village, with less people traversing the streets.

Finally they came to a stop just outside a forest. The road they were currently on led to a walled compound, but the fox obviously wouldn't live inside such a place. Nor did it appear to be headed there either. Instead, it ran into the really tall grass. She would be unable to follow it if there hadn't been a thin path made from the small creature flowing through it. Though it got harder and harder to follow as the grass seemed to grow as she moved through it. Well, get taller as she went deeper into the forest.

It had been fun before, but now that she could only see the thin spot of parted grass where her furry friend was moving at, she wasn't so sure. Her doubts and frustration increased as it got harder to follow, and the amount of time she'd been following within the forest lengthened. But she kept on. Her friend was leading her somewhere, and she wanted to know.

Eventually Narumi could hear the sound of water. Unlike anything she'd heard before, the subtle sound seemed to roar. But it still sounded like water. During her approach, it just seemed to get louder, and her more sure of what it was, but still very confused at how it could be possible.

Those doubts cleared up as her wide-eyed gaze moved up the wide falls. It wasn't all that high, but still several times her height. She was startled from the view as soft fuzz rubbed against her leg. Looking down, she smiled at the cute creature. She'd almost come to think of the two foxes as her best friends. It once again led her again, but this time into a patch of flowers, a very _large_ patch, that covered much of the area by the waterfall. It laid down upon them, which she happily copied.

For the first time in her life, the redheaded child was completely at ease. She could never remember feeling so relaxed. Her smile, a rarely seen genuine expression, increased when the furball curled up against her arm as she shifted to the side to hold the purring creature. The girl didn't even notice her tiredness before falling deeply asleep among the flowers and fluff.

* * *

Far up in the trees, a black-clad woman gazed down upon her ward, a child shunned by others, a little girl that is being manipulated into hiding her gender for her own safety. A fragile existence that has little in her life to appreciate, and nearly nobody to care for her. Even she hadn't allowed herself to approach the child. Only when the Hokage practically forced the job upon her recently had she even taken an interest. But now that she was a guardian, she was unable to personally interact with the girl.

But she was currently in shock. If someone had tried to sneak up on her, they would be able to do so with the simplest ease. Maybe even if they had tried to attack the child below, they might have been capable of doing so.

The past couple weeks, she had taken notice of the two foxes that were obviously alternating between days to keep the lonely child company for a few hours each day. Even after reporting the strange occurrence to the Hokage, no orders to take action were given. Though he too found it highly suspicious, there was no indication of foul play. Indeed, there were rumors of the two foxes, and even he had heard of them. Only now had they been spotted by an adult, but only by his ANBU. That in itself was strange. But with the rumor and little evidence of danger, he had merely ordered her to be attentive to the creatures.

Today though… Watching as the intelligent vulpine pull her ward's attention, comfort her lonely soul, then have her follow it through the village while keeping completely hidden from others? It wasn't expertly done, but with her ward following so closely, not a single eye caught sight of the creature, and the few that could had only seen her ward trying to sneak around.

Even more, it had led the boyish girl to the forest of the rumors. She watched as the child followed, albeit frustratingly, through the tall grass. Where they stopped though, she had never seen an area so beautiful.

The small river was maybe three or four meters wide, waterfall was easily ten meters in height, surrounding trees anywhere from fifteen to thirty, grass short enough to not be a bother around the waterfront, and several flowerbeds about the area. Specifically, just under the rock face on either side of the waterfall. At least as wide as the stream itself on either side, and a good few meters long, the assortment of random flowers enhanced the view of beauty to nearly unimaginable levels. A breathtaking sight to say the least.

But the fact that one of the foxes led her ward to such a place? Showing her the love that should naturally be given to a child? Even if it wasn't human, it had given her more attention and comfort than any other had probably done within the girl's short life. But the real shock came from the smile upon the mistreated child's face. She never seen such a smile from the girl before, almost as if any smile seen before was utterly fake. The ANBU watched as the redhead lay there, happily dreaming, hugging the suspicious golden vulpine as it purred their troubles away. Maybe they were fake? That thought would make anyone feel terrible…

A shift in the grass brought her attention back to reality. The darkening skies told her that she had actually been there for far longer than she wanted to believe. Had she been so out of it? Her gaze fled back to the moving color within the grass. A bright red.

That quickly shaped into the form of the another fox. The blonde stripes that slide from either eye, an inversed colouring of the other fox, told her it was the twin sibling. It was strange how they looked exactly alike, yet inversely colored. It made it's way into the field, traversing the flowers towards her ward. Eventually it crawled into a place between the redhead's arms and her tummy.

Despite her rank and the requirements of it, she was still young, still a girl, and still enjoyed cuteness. It was simply ingrained into her being, as it was with nearly all females. She cursed not having a camera on hand for such an adorable scene. It would probably keep the old Hokage happy with her for months. Instead, he's going to be upset that there wasn't any evidence of it! ..Maybe she'd keep quiet? She cursed her mission.

Silently fuming, she continued looked at the scene below as if betrayed by lady luck herself.

* * *

I feel like how I'm writing is changing away from what I wanted it to be like…  
So long as the story stays enjoyable, I suppose it doesn't matter too much?  
Thoughts?

Monsieur La Critique:  
Naru: to bear fruit / to ring/to echo/ bell sound?  
Naruto: Maelstrom  
Narue: Blessing  
Narumi: Roaring of the Sea  
Narua: N/A  
Natsumi: Summer/Beautiful

The changing was supposed to be them getting used to it. Despite their liking, the girls are still both the same girl, and lived most of their lives as Narue. It might still come up here and there, but are slowly drifting away from it. Also, Minato was terrible at naming (I think?). But there is symbolism in the names relating to old Uzushio. Everything to do with Kushina and Minato name-wise had some link to water or weather. I named 'Narue' for representation of Mokuton.

Prankpokolypse will happen. Eventually. I just have to get the setting right for it to eventually happen. Yes this will turn slightly dark and/or serious, but will also flow back into fluff. There's simply too much in the air about their situation to always retain fluff as a constance. (Also, I admit to be terrible at people skills / jokes / da funny myself. Though I do enjoy reading such so incredibly much)

I have around 18 chapters written, but I think I'll have 25 by the time the first arc finishes. There's a small draft on the direction I want it taken, but I want to finalize my idea before writing the rest of this part out. (I've never written a draft out before! Yay me!)

My other story is apparently on temporary hold. I've got some new ideas tossing about in my head, and am currently undecided on which where to go with it. There will be a go, and it will be magnificent! I just gotta decide… Though the same could be said with this story, so maybe it isn't? *Indecisive?*

Reading!ThankYou!  
Support!ThankYou!  
Reviewing!ThankYou!  
Basically!Thank!You!Everyone! :3


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

* * *

A brush flowed up the canvas. It pulled back for a moment, then slid over it again in another direction. Once more it was pulled away, then another dip and it flowed once more. This continued for a few moments. Eventually it was simply left within the ink pot.

The man sighed heavily. Lately, his job was growing increasingly frustrating. There was so much going on that he didn't know how to handle, let alone wanted to. He stood up, forcing his creaking bones and sore muscles to cooperate.

The Uchiha problem wasn't going smoothly at all. His advisors were causing troubles behind his back, nothing too outrageous that he could find, but enough to frustrate him. His wayward students had are still running amok, though Jiraiya was at least providing information to alleviate some of it. But his biggest worry was anything but straightforward.

Hiruzen moved from his painting to sit down at his desk.

He picked up an interesting picture from its facedown position. It may not have been nearly as perfect as he had heard the first instance to be, but it was an image that still melted his heart. Amusingly, he could still feel his ANBU shiver whenever she entered his office to report lately. Her initial reluctance to report was well warranted.

But his eyes shifted to the alien creatures within the image.

He couldn't place them at all. Never before had he heard of such, but that wasn't all too strange. There are many creatures within this world that he had yet to hear of, let alone see. But that wasn't what worried him. His instincts were set off the moment they had first appeared before the Uzumaki child.

He still regretted announcing her connection to the fox. It was avoidable, but he had listened to the Fourth's wish. Although that could have been misinterpreted to only those who knew of it, rather than the whole village. With knowledge of her out, it had unintentionally protected her from both the clans and Danzo. But it also put her into a position where he couldn't help her too much either. At least not without serious repercussions. He sighed once more.

The two vulpine creatures drew his attention once more. Unique, untrained but can use chakra to traverse, non-aggressive, and only show themselves to children. Aside from the single ANBU guard of Narumi. Rumors of them started up a few months after the changes the Senju Clan Grounds started showing. Were they a result of such? Or part of the reason? Was there even a connection?

He had even almost forgotten about the 'presence' himself until the forest came back up. It was now a constant within the village, day or night, it was there, slightly comforting, as if wrapping people up in a thin blanket. Oddly, he thought these two might have something to do with it, but pushed the thought away. They were unique, and reports from Neko stated they felt strong, but weren't letting off the waves of chakra that would be needed to cause such a constance within the village.

He had actually sent several patrols to find these creatures several times. Especially after their existence had been confirmed by Neko. But, once again, not a single sighting of the creatures were to be had. They were capable of hiding from even his best trackers. Their scent was around the entire forest, and seemingly stuck together for some strange reason, throwing off any trails. The Aburame all but refuse to go near the forest anymore, as their Kikaichu tend to refuse returning to their hosts. The Hyuuga simply don't care, and those he had under his command came out without results.

Either the two were capable sensors, or masters of going unnoticed. Probably both, if they could use chakra as reports from Neko stated. Hearing of untrained animals capable of walking up trees was almost dumbfounding. It requires training just to use chakra, let alone knowing how it can be used. Either they had someone training them, or had incredible instincts.

The only reports Hiruzen had of people entering or exiting the forest was when children got curious or adults went looking for the rumored creatures. Not a single person looked like they had any connection, even when he had his ANBU investigate those who repeatedly entered the grounds. He could have them arrested, but soon enough the growing interest had vanished when the area become too much trouble to easily traverse for civilians. Children still tried though, and there were still a few who claimed to find the foxes.

But for Narumi to come across them… especially when they came to her, was suspicious at best. And yet, no evidence appeared about any hidden plays or possible dangers. The foxes themselves have all but proven they mean no harm. He just wished that the only one under his command to find the creatures wasn't Narumi's guard. Having Neko capture the creatures in front of Narumi would be counterproductive in many ways. He'd had a second guard for that purpose once a few days before, but neither fox appeared, and it had left Narumi depressed. That wasn't going to be repeated.

Hiruzen laid the picture down, taking one last glance at it. It was a treasure. Just as he had described to him before, Narumi laid upon the flower field near the waterfall, with two small inversely coloured blonde and red foxes cuddled up against her. The smile on her face was even there, but nowhere near as angelic as been described to him. Narumi's second visit to the area had been of her own accord, and a near repeat of the first, but had taken the enamoured girl several times longer to find the waterfall, which left her exhausted instead of simply tired. The differences were apparent, and he wished he could have an image of her first time instead, but was content with this version.

Hearing the door open ended his reminiscence. It was the reason he ended his painting and laid the picture down. "Jiji!"

"Ah, Naru-chan, it's been awhile since your last visit. How have you been lately?" He smiled grandfatherly as the girl ran around the desk to hug him.

"Mn! It's great! I even made a new friends!" She released him as her smile brightened.

"Oh? This is a first. Who might they be?"

"Ah..?"

The elderly man watched her blinking in confusion, almost wondering about the reason.

"Uh, I don't know their names..?"

"That's odd. Friends usually have a name." Hiruzen could almost laugh as he asked his question, but held it in.

Narumi pouted, "I can't! They can't talk! Dattebane~"

"I see… well, there's usually other ways you can ask, or for them to tell." Hiruzen held in his laughter and watched as her pout deepened.

"B-But they're cats! How do I ask a cat its name?! I wanna know!"

The old man chuckled. He wanted to correct her, but couldn't find it in himself to do so. It wouldn't just give away her guard, but was too cute. Her naive notion that she might be able to ask an animal its name was humorous as well. Still, he knew that some animals were intelligent, and quite capable of doing so. And if they were capable, he'd like to know as well. "Did you try just asking? If they can't give you a name, or don't have one, you can simply name them yourself. Maybe I could even meet them some time."

Narumi's eyes brightened at the notion. "Okay! Thank's Jiji!"

"Ah, I wanted to let you know that the academy starts next week. I figured you'd like to meet some children your own age. Maybe even make some friends. It's also where the Yondaime learned to be a ninja."

"Really?! Friends! I can learn like the Yondaime did? I love when you tell me about him! Can you tell me another story?! Please~"

Hiruzen chuckled again at her restless probing. She would keep asking questions for hours when he started talking about ninja. He was just glad it was mostly about the Fourth Hokage, though sometimes he wished the girl would inquire about his own tales… "Well, let's start with.."

* * *

Haruna huffed as she pulled a pot of water onto the fire to be heated, then she moved the stool over to the where the chopping board was and started slicing vegetables. She was enjoying seeing how her favorite food was made, and preparing it herself. Jii-san had said she was almost ready to start helping to make it, and she was focusing on all the aspects needed to do so.

Haruna had already started, so she was being left behind. Though that might have been caused by her rushing lately, causing improper balance within the meal. Basically, her rush had put her from being better than her sister to being worse. Even though they were both told at nearly the same time, a single day apart, she had been told first. And her failure had been relayed to her sister, keeping her from making the same mistake.

The violet-eyed girl sighed at the possibilities of ramen she could learn to make and possible create. Though she didn't need to eat, it was still a pleasure. It didn't matter if it brought bathroom needs into the equation, the experience was too delicious to pass up. But it had been a while since she enjoyed a bowl…

Her thoughts were broken with the voice of her sensei. "Our special customer has arrived."

Widened eyes took off to hurry the process. She had been daydreaming! It was too early to be doing that, especially with a sister to feed! Back and forth, her hands flew as she fished out the rest of the ingredients needed and prepared them for Teuchi to use.

First bowl, second, she needed more. Her little feet took her across the room and back, a third, fourth, and fifth bowl's worth of ingredients quickly found its way to be sliced, diced, heated, and prepared. Fixing enough for a single bowl at a time was too much effort, so ingredients were usually laid out for several.

Haruna heard sensei call out 'order up' from outside, and rushed the last bit, dumbly. She watched as Teuchi came back into the kitchen, but just as the door started closing behind him, she saw a pair of eyes leaning far over to the side, trying to peek through the small gap. Locking upon one another, both feminine sets widened, unknowingly mirrored by the other, just before getting cut off.

Violet slitted eyes stared at the now closed door. She had been leaning too far over the table as she cut up the last of the vegetables needed for what Teuchi called 'a healthy diet'. Usually, she just merely cut the produce calmly, leaving nothing visible to be seen through the door, no matter who looked in. Having someone see her was shocking, even more so when it was her sister. _She saw me…_

 _Huh?_

 _And my ears!_

 _...Let's just hope she doesn't-_

 _She will! She's us! Of course she will!_

 _...Teuchi?_

Haruna took a deep breath. "Teuchi-Jiisan?" He didn't reply, but the turn of his head told her he was listening. "Nee-chan just saw my ears." The man stopped at her words for a moment, then nodded understandingly. He knew the twins didn't want to be outed just yet. The girl sighed as the man walked out with another two bowls for his usual early morning customer.

* * *

Narumi's gaze lingered upon the open door.

She had pulled herself out of the gaping daze a moment before, but was still in disbelief. Had she seen what she did? Were those really real? And those eyes… Those violet slitted eyes were so.. so-so similar! And that hair! If she hadn't seen the human face, she'd have thought it was the fox!

Watching the door open brought her attention back to the bowls of food. She was hungry, but far less than she had been in recent weeks. It wasn't the starving pang that had tormented her for so long anymore. She could wait a moment.

Narumi looked up from the steamy bowl of godly smells. "That per-" She stopped with a blink as the old man raised a finger to his lips. It was the first time anyone used such a gesture, but she did know what it meant, and frowned. "Bu-"

This time he shook his head. "Don't worry, you'll meet eventually."

Now visibly pouting, the girl returned to the nearly impossible to ignore bowl of angelic deliciousness. Unable to resist any longer, her desires were soon fulfilled by the twin sticks of deliverance held within her grasp.

Her thoughts still lingered on the impossibility.

* * *

So~ I think I got pranked...  
Someone in my family messed with my account settings. Turned off my private messaging, alerts and stuff… It wasn't anything big, but I wasn't getting any PM's, and my email seemed to have more in it than usual. Nothing serious, but still annoying to have it done.  
Tip: Don't leave your 8yo nephew alone to play games on your pc with your account up.

Hope you all enjoy another chapter of my lovely TKS :D


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Date!Warning!2/23/16!

* * *

The twins were once more relaxing on their day off when they felt the a spark of 'lonely' darkness headed their way. Shifting their gazes up from the flowers, twin slits turned towards each other before nodding. Quickly, they bundled their way towards the usual field, only belatedly feeling the a second spark of darkness following the first from high in the trees.

It took a few days to actually figure out why the ramen maker warned them not to appear before their sister, but once they had, completely agreed that they wouldn't do so in human form. Not until the follower was gone, at least. When that would be, neither knew.

Springing from their den, specifically made by the waterfall for the sake of ease and closeness, the twins found themselves appearing through a flower bush laid against the rock wall, and into the usual field. They continued from there towards the middle, then proceeded to lay down, as if always there.

It took a few minutes more for the slow human sister to come into sight. Her smile brightened as she rushed to them, almost squealing as she picked them up into a hug, much to their dismay. "You're here again!"

Being held so roughly wasn't by any means pleasant, but they endured. It was an action of her happiness, so they wouldn't struggle. Though they remained annoyed until one was laid back down and the other held in a far more comfortable position. It was nice that they were small enough to easily rest within a child's arms.

The red fox walked onto Narumi's lap as she sat down. Soon the blonde fox was purring within Narumi's arms, having her head stroked gently and lovingly. The one underneath soon echoed the feeling she was perceiving from her sister, both physically and mentally. While not quite distinct, they did feel the others emotions through the link, swaying their own.

"Mn~ I'm going to be starting the academy tomorrow."

Despite barely listening, this quickly pulled their attention, startling the two out of their pleasant daze. The looked at one another darkly.

"Jiji says I might make some friends. I've never had one of those, 'ttebane~." Narumi wistfully whispered. "Though, I'd like to think of the two of you as my friends." Her smile returned at that, only to widen when she saw/felt their nods. It was like a large weight drifted off her. Even if they weren't human, they agreed to be friends!

The thoughts of the twins were somewhat darker. _She won't make any friends…_

 _She'll try though. Hopefully that pink-haired girl won't hit her though._

 _..I still feel those bumps. Why did she have to hit us just because we tried talking to that emo once?_

 _Every single time we even walked nearby too! ...Maybe she'll meet that blue haired girl?_

 _Eh?! Yea! ..But how can we get them to meet?_

…

"-and he disappears in a flash! A yellow FLASH! Then somehow reappears somewhere else! Isn't that amazing? I wanna be like that! Dattebane! People would recognize me wherever I go, unable to ignore me anymore! Hehe, maybe I could even become Hokage too? Then they'd _have_ to stop ignoring me!

 _She wants to do that too?_

 _...Hehe, yea. Maybe we can help her do it?_

"But then, he was like 'can't you just ask them?' But you two don't speak! So.. I don't know what to call you! If only I could speak fox, 'ttebane~" Narumi pouted, frustrated at herself. She blinked, realizing her arms were empty. Looking around, she found that the twin foxes were over by the water. Following the two, she realized they were drawing in the mud. "Those are weird pictures. Wait, aren't those words? Like what's on the signs and stuff?"

Both twins felt like facepalming. It had been so long, they only remembered the most basic words and their own names. They had put down the nicknames that Hinata had given them, thankfully knowing how to draw those, since they were quite common, but still didn't know all that much. But their sister didn't know how to read. Something both of them had forgotten they had only learned in the academy.

They flinched when a spike of anger rolled over them from far above. Their gazes snapped to the location with wide-eyes. Narumi saw this and followed their looks of fear, confused. "..I don't see anything?"

The twins shook their heads simultaneously, as if to remove the creeping flash of emotion. It was strange that the follower had reacted like that, but to what? It was strange, no matter how they thought of it. Was it because Narumi didn't know how to read? But wasn't that normal for them? Was it because of something one of them did?

"Haruna?"

All three girls jumped at the quiet question. Well, two foxes had their fur straighten in fright for a moment as their faces jerked towards the sound. The human girl actually did jump before turning around. All three came to the sight of a pale-eyed bluenette wearing a cute yukata.

Hinata finally noticed the differences, as well as the two fox heads that barely poked out above the flowers in her sight. "E-Eh?! I-I'm sorry!" She bowed quickly. "May I ask who you are?"

The twins looked at each other in surprise. Maybe there was a god of luck? Because he had just answered their prayers! This was their first friend, and maybe she could be Narumi's? Though they rarely saw each other, not even a handful of times, they had taken a liking to the girl. She was so nice that there wasn't any 'dark' to feel when the girl was alone. Hesitance and worry around others, but not alone.

She was the only person that they'd ever had sneak up on them! There was another presence just outside the forest that they felt like was watching them. But the twin foxes dismissed that as paranoia, caused by the sneaky child. It's like she can literally just hide her presence!

Narumi just stared at the newcomer. It was a first for her to have someone talking to her like this. The girl wasn't glaring, looking at her weirdly, or scared. Every kid she had ever seen was 'warned' to stay away from her. She could even hear parents telling their kids that, or other kids warning their friends of what their parents said.

No hint of anger or disgust. No show of laughing at her. No jokes or lies. She wasn't doing anything that made her feel uneasy. Really, she wasn't doing much of.. anything. She was simply waiting for a reply…

"A-Ano~?"

"Ah! My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" The girl replied, still stunned, though a bit hopeful at not garnering a negative reply with her name. Such a simple response, to those who didn't recognize her, was practically taboo, if she wanted to be treated 'normally' like everyone else. Not that it happened anymore… When did it actually happen..?

Hinata's paused. Wasn't that the name that ramen chef spoke of? "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Narumi openly gaped. For the first time in her life… second? Someone had replied 'kindly'. She was dense, maybe, but she knew the difference. But _nobody_ was kind to her! Wait, wasn't this called 'formal'? ..She didn't really care. The redhead smiled brightly. "You too! Dattebane!"

"Ano~, are y-you p-playing?"

"Eh?" Narumi blinked a few times, trying to remember what it was she was doing, then looked at the ground at the 'written words'. "I was… asking their names? ..But I can't read."

Hinata's eyebrows pulled together. Why couldn't she read? Shouldn't that have been taught years ago? Though it was a long process, Hinata could read almost everything around her. So could Neji. Wasn't it needed for the academy? She had heard that even orphans were taught by the matron. And if Naruto was an orphan like the twins, then shouldn't he have been taught? Looking down at the ground, Hinata found the names she gave the fox-girls. "Haruna. Fuyuna."

"Eh? Are those your names?!" Narumi looked down at her newfound friends, which nodded happily. "Wow! You're amazing Hinata-chan!"

"E-E-EH? Ch-Chan?!" Her face flushed at the suffix.

"Mn! Thank you! I wouldn't have found out if you hadn't come by!" Narumi smiled brightly, ignoring the glowing blush of the bluenette.

 _...And there she goes again. I remember her doing this before._

 _Ah, yea! Now I remember her. She was always passing out for the strangest reasons._

 _...A~nd down she goes!_

Said Hyuuga quickly descended into the soft grass, unconscious.

Narumi blinked owlishly, confused at the sudden disappearance of the girl as she opened her eyes from the large smile. Her gaze drifted to find the fallen body. "Eh..? Hinata! Are you okay?! What happened?! Hello? Don't die on me! Wake up! Please, wake up~!"

Laughing inwardly at their prediction, the two foxes padded their way around to the unconscious girl's cheek, licking either side, ignoring their panicked, almost teary, sister. Soon enough the girl had awoken due to the twins efforts, calming the crying and frantic redhead, and leaving a flustered bluenette.

Far above, a masked ANBU watched on at the interactions. She was ready to step in instantly when the Hyuuga heiress suddenly collapsed, but when the fox kits moved, she forcefully stopped herself. She also knew of the Hyuuga guard outside the forest watching in. Despite the forest obscuring much of the chakra presence, it was still visible to her senses. If he hadn't moved either, then it probably wasn't too dangerous. No doubt the guard was watching intently.

After realizing the girl was fine, she could safely say watching the children's antics was humorous to say the least. Passing out from being thanked, and awakening to animals licking her face was probably terribly embarrassing.

Still, she could just _feel_ the foxes were powerful. There wasn't a chakra presence from them to signify so, but her instincts were telling her that was false. They felt of the forest itself. Even training ground 44 didn't have such presence anymore. And the feeling was spread around the whole of Konoha. It wasn't bad, but still left her uncomfortable knowing about it. Unlike others, having being within the forest for a time, she realized the 'comforting presence' was actually related to the forest. Most hadn't spent more than an hour or two within, unlike herself.

And for the foxes to feel nearly exactly as the forest does, she truly felt that they were dangerous if provoked. Yet.. neither showed any action more than playfulness or comfort. Still, their having such an existence next to her ward so often, so close, was not enjoyable to say the least.

* * *

Hiruzen watched as one of his ANBU made entrance.

"Neko reporting in." She continued at her leader's nod. "Inu made contact, and the shift was successful." She took a deep breath...

A while later, the elderly man sat alone. The weathered Hokage let out a weary sigh. If Neko's report was to be believed, then he at least had answers to many of his questions. In doing so, far more had easily come to replace them.

Worse yet, he had accidentally stunted the Uzumaki girl's knowledge and growth. That fact alone made him feel every year he had lived. Narumi may have had a caretaker to provide her basic needs, an ANBU from his force to ensure the girl's constant safety for her first six years of life, but he had neglected to have her teach the more advanced skills a child needs to learn.

He realized protocol dictated she refrain from being sighted unless needed. The ANBU likely took care of the girl's needs in secret. Had he not been forced with so many various difficulties following the Kyuubi attack, such a lack in basic oversight wouldn't have occurred. That was not his intention, but thinking back, is often indirectly stated within the reports.

He could only fault himself if this is true. He had, again, failed his duty.

The rest of the report was just as disturbing. If correct, the 'presence', a supposedly calming entity that had continually kept him on edge, was supposedly the forest itself. According to Neko, she only realized it after being there long enough to notice with the fox siblings nearby. They had some connection to it as well. Probably as either the source of the presence, while the forest spread it. She stated that there was a slight shift to it according to how the fox's themselves were acting.

It made sense, really. But he couldn't figure out why. Had the Kyuubi's chakra been involved somehow? It didn't matter. But now he know how they were avoiding people. Empaths… they could feel emotions. That was not a sensory type that was easily avoided. He doubted that even ROOT ANBU could avoid such a skill, despite their training.

Worse yet, they were intelligent. Enough to not only understand language, but read and write at least basic structure - something that had apparently been _neglected_ from Narumi's preparation for the academy. More than that, if truly as intelligent as stated, they would easily spot a normal trap laid out to them. And if they were practically a part of the forest, as Neko believes, then there was little, if anything, that could be used to ensnare them. Neko couldn't even feel chara emanating from either one, just that they felt like the forest itself, giving more credibility to the theory.

His only comfort was the fact that they were peaceful. If the 'presence' he had felt lately was any indication, then they really were simply playing with the kids, and avoiding everyone else. Even more, they were pulling the two most emotionally harmed children into their 'comfort'. Neko had said that the closer she was to the foxes inside the forest, the calmer she felt. Though that backfired, removing any ease that settled, for that very reason.

But if the fox siblings were indeed empaths, then maybe the really had traversed the village to seek out Narumi, as he initially believed. Just for a different reason. If they felt a child in pain through their empathic ability, then they might want to approach said child in attempt to help. They could use their presence to comfort the lonely child.

Of course this was all theory, a completely unlikely scenario.

But it was the only one that fit so far...

Unfortunately, he couldn't ask the only possible outside source without cause. Hyuuga Hinata was the Heiress to the clan, and too politically important to simply approach. From the report, there was not a just cause to question the child.

From every visible aspect, everything indicates the two as 'peaceful'. So much that they are actually spreading it to the whole of Konoha. Whether intentional or not is unknown, but still cause for worry. The issue is whether it's the forest itself spreading the influence, or the fox siblings themselves. If they were releasing such masses of chakra to do so, Konoha, he, should have felt it long ago. But if the forest was… Or maybe the forest was amplifying what the foxes were putting out? But they felt like the forest, not the other way around.

There were far too many unknowns for his liking…

* * *

Hm~ Maybe a little too early for a second Hiruzen scene, but I kinda wanted to make it seem like they were making bits of progress and stuff? Might not be as interesting as usual, but it is what it is, and I'm already at ch.24, so meh. I'll probably try releasing a chapter per day now. All that's left is ch.25 of the ,first arc, which will probably be several times longer than any of the other's. I just have to get around to actually writing it XD

Sadly, I've come up with another story to interpose with…  
I can't seem to contain myself to one story (-.-;)  
Worse, I have what I wana do in FDTD in my head, and I just can't bring myself to make time for it. I'm terrible, aren't I? It's just 'blah~'. Write what you want, read what you want, and have fun doing it, right?

Maybe once I get 25 done, I'll at least have a second arc idea in my head for this story. For some odd reason, I've only been able to get a single idea for it, and that's only the vague direction. This story has the greatest potential of any of mine, to be honest. So many directions it can go, and will go. We'll see in another 12 chapters (days?)...

Also, let it be known: Copy/Paste from GDocs keeps removing some of my underlines/bolds/italics at random...

Anyways, once again, Thank You for reading!  
(Edit: Forgot to mention my 100th fav! \\(^-^)/ Woohoo! THANK YOU For all your support!)


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 !Cuddle!Warning!

* * *

Narumi sat in the near empty classroom, anxiously waiting.

As per usual, she enjoyed her morning ramen. Lately it had started changing, but tasted amazing anyways. She couldn't figure it out, but her body felt a little better too. It wasn't just easier to move around, but she felt quicker, lighter, and her body could bend better, like taking off some thick clothes or something.

Her eyes roamed towards the door as another to-be student walked in. Short brown hair, normal clothes, taller than her, but bland. His eyes went to her, and she could just feel the annoyance in his demeanor as he realized who she was. Another kid that was told mean things about her…

Sighing, she let her head hit the dest. Was it really too much to ask for a single person to not take offense by her very presence? Everywhere she goes, someone is always saying something about her, and keeping the others away. Even things she didn't really do!

The sounds of footsteps drew her attention again. Black hair shaped kind of duck-butt-like… What kind of hair-style is that? DId he like ducks? ..Black turtleneck, white shorts.. and the police emblem? Weird.

"Eep! I'm S-Sorry!"

Narumi's gaze snapped to the voice. Another brown-haired boy walked in, followed by.. Hinata! She waved, smiling, hoping to get her attention. Hearing a sound next to her, she paused. Looking towards her side, she found duck-hair sitting next to her… She looked left. A window. Right, left, no empty seat...

Her head hit the table again.

"Hey, doesn't that hurt?"

Narumi's gaze turned towards the side as she lifted her head. The police-boy was looking at her concerned. "Mn, I'm fine… Why are you talking to me?"

"Eh? Why wouldn't I?"

Now she was really confused. "Shouldn't your mother have told you to stay away, or something?" She watched as the confused boy looked at her as if she was crazy.

"No."

It was simple, but had built up some hope, and she visibly brightened. "My names Uzumaki Naruto! What's yours?"

Again, he looked at her as if she was crazy. "Mine? How do you not know that?"

Narumi blinked owlishly, then frowned, "because I don't? And I don't really want to call you duck-head or something."

"Duck.. Head? Huh?"

"Your hair, it looks like a duck's butt, 'ttebane. I was thinking maybe you liked ducks or som-"

"IT DOES NOT!" Duck-butt cried out.

"Eh? B-But it-" Narumi tried.

"Shut up!" "Yea!" "Leave him alone!" Looking around, the redhead suddenly found herself surrounded by girls. "Don't talk to Sasuke-sama!" "You shouldn't even be here!" "Mama said he's evil!" "Stay away from him!" "Get away from Sasuke-sama!"

The more it went on, the more Narumi wanted to simply disappear. More and more slowly joined in, until she finally jumped on the desk and tried running out the door. Unfortunately, that was stopped as she plowed into a wall.

"My, my, what do we have here. Already trying to skip class? ..Well, maybe we can find a suitable punishment." Despite the soft spoken words, Narumi found the woman's voice scary. She shivered at the glare.

A few moments later, the emotional child was standing out in the hall holding a bucket of water in each hand, unable to hear what was going on inside the room. Still, she didn't let her tears fall, no matter how much they tried.

* * *

 _Any sign of her yet?_

 _No… I wonder where she is? The classes let out hours ago._

 _...I've been waiting by her apartment, but nobody is here._

 _Well, her follower appeared earlier, and is still here. I'm going to go inside._

 _Eh? Shadow wasn't watching her during class?_

 _No, she wasn't. I'm going in to get her now._

 _..Be safe._

A red-furred fox carefully slipped out of the bush. The evening light was plenty for her to see as she slipped through the shadows. Her stealth skills had come along incredibly recently, enhancing upon her evasion skills from before the 'incident'. Quickly, the girl found her way to a still-open window, and wall-walked through it.

The empty classroom was filled with unique scents, but not one pertained to her target. Padding to the door, she realized that it wouldn't be easy to open, if at all, in her current shape. Quickly the fox shifted to her human form, turned the handle, and disappeared back into fur. Haruna nosed her way through the small gap, and kept on sniffing until finding the correct scent.

A few moments later had her staring at a trembling redhead, holding two buckets that were sloshing water out from the jerky shakes. Tears were flowing down her face, openly displaying her obvious pain.

 _Oh no…_

 _What?_

 _Bucket torture._

 _WHAT?! ALREADY?!_

 _..We're going to Ichiraku. Meet us there._

Narumi continued as told all day long. She held on, taking the punishment with her head held high. It didn't stop the taunts or jokes at her expense. A few had even tried pushing her over, hoping to get the buckets to spill. She knew that would get her in even more trouble. But when class let out, the teacher told her to do it until dark. Only then could she leave…

A sudden fuzz against her leg shocked her to attention. Narumi looked down at the red bundle as it wormed its way around her legs. "H-Haruna?" It looked up and nodded. "I-I'll come with yo-you in a-a while. I h-have to stay and fini-"

Hearing a growl, the redhead jumped, spilling some water, shocked at her fox friend's attitude. She was growling! "Bu-But I can't!" The sound only got louder, which started scaring her. "O-okay, we'll go! I just need t-to empty the-ese!"

Narumi set one down and went to toss the water, then did the other, and put the buckets up. Never before had her arms felt so dead to her. They were more wiggly than jello! Tentatively, she followed the little fox out of the building, opening doors for using her back and legs instead of arms.

Only when she got near the smell of heaven did she take notice of her path. Eyes alit with joy, her soreness practically disappeared as she ran ahead. "Jii-san!"

"Hoho, come back for a second time today, have you? How was your first day of the Academy?"

The dead tired child almost didn't notice the fox hop upon her lap as she proceeded to fill him in on duckbutt boy, the girl-gang, and evil buckets. Her surprising happiness at such a terrible day put a frown upon the old man's face. He could almost believe she really was happy. Or maybe it was because of him and the ramen. Though her appearance did explain why Fuyuna had returned.

He wanted to tell her that was wrong, but by now he was sure she really was happy. Apparently just being there was enough for her, as sad as that thought was. He unfortunately stayed quiet about it, and allowed her to talk. Teuchi didn't want to spoil her improving mood...

Despite her happy demeanor, it didn't rub off. This was not a pleasant night for the chef, as displayed by the stiff smile.

* * *

Pink slitted eyes watched as a tuft of red was, once more, heading out the doorway of a classroom. She's out. Again.

 _This makes two entire weeks!_

 _Longer than ours. I wonder what's different?_

 _...What can we do, though?_

 _She can't learn if nobody is willing to help._

 _We can help!_

 _But how? We can't force the teacher to do anything. We can't even show ourselves! People try to chase us every time we're seen! And our human form is even worse - who knows what would happen if they find the two of us not going to the academy?_

 _...force us to go?_

 _Yea, but what if they ask questions? Or take us for an examination? Who knows what else?!_

 _...terrible things?_

 _Quit that!_

 _We can teach her ourselves._

 _How? Most everything we learned was a lie!_

 _Most.. but not all. We know a little bit of reading, right?_

 _Yea, but not enough. We'd have to go to the library or something._

 _Exactly! The library!_

 _...Bad idea!_

 _But it's all we have!_

 _I'm going to get her out of the hall. See if you can get something from the library that can help us to read. Ask if Jii-san can help._

Jumping from branch to branch, a tuft of blonde descended to the ground, before shooting off towards an open window. She didn't care that the room was filled, just jumped through anyways. The open door was her aim, shooting through the window, her aim proved true, landing her against the wall outside the door. Her second leap had her headed towards her sister and back on the floor. Fuyuna ignored the surprised shouts from behind.

Stopping behind her sister, who was filling buckets of water again - unimaginative teacher, maybe, but definitely a painful punishment - and growled. Water splashed everywhere as the redhead whirled around. Narumi sprinted off, an insanely happy sister following her already.

It didn't take long before the pair slipped through the streets, the fox child staying hidden, and towards the ramen stand. It would obviously be empty soon, but they didn't chance it. Fuyuna led her into the back door of the building.

* * *

"Jii-san, is it going to pick up soon?"

"No, it's going to be another quiet day. Why?"

"Mn, nee-chan is coming."

"Ah, she doesn't have to help out today. One of you is more than enough."

"..The other nee-chan."

Teuchi turned towards his little helper with a raised brow. "Isn't she in class?"

Haruna looked downtrodden, "they kicked her out again. Fuyuna is bringing her here. We wanted to know if you could tell us a good book to learn reading?"

Teuchi's features unnaturally hardened. "I thought I told you both not to approach her."

"Eh? But her follower shadow doesn't watch her at the academy. She'll be coming alone instead."

The ramen chef was still disgruntled, but left it at that. So long as they were being careful. He just hoped it would turn out okay. "Have her back before the last hour of academy, just to be safe."

Haruna smiled widely, "Hai!"

"..and get a dictionary. Go to a bookstore, not a library. I'll help you with the basic Hiragana and Katakana if you need it. From there, the dictionary should show you the rest." He walked out the door with a steaming bowl.

Haruna hurried towards the other door and hurriedly opened it just in time, forgetting to say her thanks in the process. "Hurry in!"

Two blurs flew through the door before it shut. The blonde watched as the redhead giggled, finally 'catching' her sister. She followed suit after seeing the distraught appearance of her fox-shaped sister. It took a moment for both to settle down.

Narumi let the struggling fox go before realizing that someone else was in the room, and had been laughing with her. Then the smells hit, and she knew it was Ichiraku's. Only then did she look at the other person, gasping. "Y-You..!"

"Hello, nee-chan" Fuyuna waved, unintentionally distracting Narumi from seeing Haruna shapeshift into a human right behind her.

"You're.. so cute!" Just as she was about to jump forward and hug the strangely familiar girl, somehow comfortable enough to want physical contact, she felt arms wrap around her. "Eh?"

Narumi was stiff from the unexpected contact. It was a strange sensation. She had seen others doing this, and had about done it automatically herself. It was almost foreign, with only her Jiji doing it every once in awhile. Looking back, she found herself in the a similar hugging she had tried to put the other fox-eared girl in. Something Narumi was surprisingly completely okay with. "Hello, nee-chan!"

"Eh?" Narumi furrowed her brows. "Why are you calling me that?"

"Who are you?" She looked back and forth between the two fox sisters, shifting anxiously. The redhead didn't know why, but she didn't want to be rejected by these two at all. Not if she could help it.

"Um~" "How to explain?" "Maybe just get it out there?" "So.." "We're your sisters?" "Kind of?" "Maybe, but not quite?" "We don't actually know?"

"Huh?" Now even more confused, she picked out the one word that made sense from the weird lookalike girls going back and forth. "Sisters?"

""...Probably.""

"I have sisters?" Narumi breathed out, wide eyed, watching as the twins - they had to be - looked between each other again, pulled the hair away from their faces to show something that had only been seen in a mirror before, then nodded. "Kyaa!" She lunged at the 'sister' in front of her, hugging tightly. "I-have-sisters~! I-really-have-sisters!"

"Ehehe, don't forget me~" The other followed, finishing the three way hug. Narumi found herself snuggled between two soft and cozy tails. Of course they were attached to the 'sisters', as they said, but the tails~!

They jumped all at once as a distinctly male voice coughed. "Shouldn't one of you be headed towards the bookstore?"

"Ah! I'll go. I just.. need money? ...where is it?" Haruna removed herself, pulled her hood up, and hid her tail. A moment later had her exiting the door, after thanking Teuchi profusely for the pocket change.

Before they knew it, Fuyuna and Narumi were alone - Teuchi was serving another round outside.

"Okay, so, where to start~" Fuyuna tilted her head. "My name I guess? Uzumaki Fuyuna, 'ttebane."

"Eh? You do that too?!"

Fuyuna blushed. "We all do, I guess."

"I'm Uzumaki Narumi! ..eh? Where'd Fuyuna go?"

Fuyuna's face seemingly turned into a tomato as she remembered her earlier plight.

* * *

!Warning!Author!Note!Warning!  
!WARNING!-I-am-a-joke-Warning-!WARNING! XD  
-Can anyone confirm if FF removes Italic+Underline formatting with copy/pasting?-  
-Or is it something else..?-

The dice are rolling.  
Their gambles are piling up.  
Can they stay hidden?  
Can they afford not to act?  
Can they protect their sister properly?  
Can they start her on the right path?

Will there be peace?  
Will there be chaos?  
Will there be friends?  
Will there be enemies?  
Will there be a future?  
Will there be an end?

Anyways~  
Yes, they're in a new dimension.  
Yes, they're finally garnering attention.  
Yes, they're probably going to get into trouble. (or cause it? :3)  
… Yes, this story will get progressively darker over time (what proper story doesn't?)  
… Yes, this story will retain its' fluffiness, even when there is darkness about. (Yay~)

In the future: Mischief. Confrontation. Distress. Emotional Breakdowns. Love. Family. Me!  
It's true! I shall appear again! With another chapter!  
I'm going to keep outputting them once a day.  
I hope... No guarantee! I'm lazy!  
(I'm also trying to at least proofread my chapters a bit before release, and I'm just not the type to do that when they're finished… Don't hate me for it!)

Now that my weird little.. big author's note is done, I just have one last thing to say!

 **Thank You All for Reading and Reviewing! :D**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 - !Warning!Not!Proofread!Warning!

* * *

Narumi's eyes stared at the ground as she walked through the halls.

For the first time in her life, she was truly happy. She had sisters! Family!

And yet, she was unable to show it. She had so many things explained to her, and so much of it made her feel terrible. The teachers were trying not to teach her? It explained why she had been kicked out of the class so many times. Because she had this weird fox thing sealed in her? She didn't even know how it was even able to fit!

But she had a reason now. A reason as to why nobody liked her. They didn't like the fox in her tummy. And they took it out on her. That wasn't something she knew how to handle. What was she supposed to do? Her sisters didn't even know much about it. Only that the fox was inside her, and not her. At least, they didn't think so. She was confused, and that they were confused about it confused her more! It was all just so confusing!

Her sisters had it even worse. Apparently the actually looked like a fox when they didn't hide their appearance. Anyone that saw them, besides Jii-san, would try to hurt them. Not that they showed anyone, but they said they could feel the people that came after them in the forest. Not all, but most were scary. They have been hiding away from people for so long...

They… _They_ had each other, though.

It also explained why she hadn't known about them. If they were hiding, of course she wouldn't know. Not even Jiji knew! How could he _not_ know? He knew everything! But he didn't know! But why didn't they want Jiji to know? Narumi wouldn't talk about them to others. She had family, and she didn't want them to hate her! And they said if people came after them, they would have to hide! If she told others, people would chase after them!

..Narumi didn't believe all they said, but couldn't say they were lying either. Like how Jiji didn't know. Or that people would hurt them. How could they make ramen if everyone would hate them? But they would disappear if she told people, and she didn't want that! They even had her whiskers! ..Narumi kind of wanted ears and a tail too…

Still, she wouldn't talk about them. No, she would do anything to keep them around. What surprised her was that they had actually been keeping her company whenever they could! It was so neat how they could turn into foxes too! She wanted to be able to do that! No matter what, Narumi would find a way!

"And just where have you been?!"

Narumi jumped at the stern voice, filled with malice. She hadn't heard the door open behind her after accidentally walking past her classroom. "I-I've been-"

"It doesn't matter. Now you're going to be standing here all night!" The woman cuter her off snidely.

For the first time in a long while, Narumi felt more than puzzled indifference or sadness. Now there was finally a little bit of anger. This woman was making her leave class just to hurt her and keep her away. "No. And if you make me, I'll tell Jiji that I haven't learned anything!"

The frustrated redhead really didn't understand it all that well, but it had been explained that she was supposed to be learning. And she couldn't learn if she wasn't in class. That's what the twins said, that they were forced to attend class in their last year, and any punishment was supposed to be about classwork. Not buckets!

"Jiji?" The woman snorted. "Who would take in an evil brat like you?"

Narumi pouted. "I'm not evil! And Jiji is Jiji! All ninja follow Jiji! They have to do what he says, if the Hokage-Jiji gives them orders!" Even if her sisters said not to tell him anything about them, said they didn't trust him, didn't understand why, even after telling her, she did. He would help against mean teachers not teaching her like they were s'posed to!

"A-Ah!" The woman's entire demeanor changed, realizing the Uzumaki boy might have somehow realized what she was doing. "I'll let you off with a warning today!" She tried to recover. "Now, wait out here until class is over. You're punishment for today isn't over yet."

Narumi frowned again, but complied. Maybe she really wasn't being allowed to learn, like her sisters were so certain of. She even used Jiji's name, , and she never used his name!

Blue eyes stared longingly at the classroom door…

* * *

"Kyaa~ You're here!"

Narue, not hearing the door open, got a fright from the sudden squeal. Her fur stood on end as she twisted, only to get flattened to the ground. She pouted at the growing occurrence, trying to ignore the warmth pressing against her.

"You need to stay here longer tonight! I never get to see either of you!" The brunette pulled back, smiling at the frustrated violet eyes. "..Don't act like that! You like it!"

Sighing, she shifted as the other girl allowed her up. Even though it wasn't quite in her nature to be the calm one, not that any Uzumaki she knew was inherently calm, Narue couldn't find much energy. Her memories were bugging her. Listening to Narumi talk about a few things in her life had pulled so many facts to light, having a slightly wider perspective to see from. But, mainly, she needed to learn. "..We can, but you have to teach us to read, 'kay?"

"Eh, okay?" Ayame brightened up, before glomping the fox-girl again.

Narue couldn't help but wonder where her calm Ayame-nee went as she struggled to breath...

* * *

Narua watched as her sister left the classrooms. It was much later than the girl should have left, but there was something different. She couldn't pick it out, but Narumi was giving off the 'prank vibe'. She knew that feeling _anywhere_ , but that didn't explain the 'different' something. Her aura was darker than usual. Maybe the prank was for a different reason than getting attention?

...The teacher? _She's going to prank the teacher!_

 _Eh? Really?_

 _Yea! Definitely! She has the face! The one that says 'payback'! Like when pranking Kiba!_

 _AH! I wanna see what she does~!_

 _Me too! We're going to have to pay attention for the next few day!_

 _...Lets help!_

 _Eh? But won't we ha-_

 _Of course we will! But we don't have to let her know we are helping! No, let's double it! Let her do her own, and we do ours! That will show the mean teacher!_

 _Ehe, ehehe~ I like the way you think~_

 _Cuz I'm you! Aha~_

Twin Smirks made their way upon the twins features. One on a human, the other on a fox. They promised humiliation of the highest order. And they knew just how to go about it!

* * *

A lone figure could be seen at the window to an academy classroom.

Normally important structures within Konoha are guarded. Some by chuunin or jounin, others by ANBU assigned to safeguard important objects or information. While this is also true for the academy building, the classrooms themselves hold nothing of value or worth.

So when this figure slid the window open, not a single person was in range or sight to see.

* * *

The morning after had two strange changes to Uzumaki Narumi.

First and foremost, not only had she ordered her favorite food - Ramen - but she had been able to smile hello to her now discovered sibling sister through an open door. She was barely visible, but still enough to exchange the simple greeting. The other appearing upon her lap a moment later had her squealing and hugging the quickly distressed sibling, only releasing her when food appeared. She had seen _both_ that morning!

But she couldn't go hug her other sisters. The shadow person was following her, and they didn't want anyone to know about their ears or tail. Or even that she knew they existed. Or anyone to know they existed besides Teuchi-Jiisan. That was still something she didn't like, but Narumi still wouldn't say anything about them, lest they disappear. She promised it!

It was only now that the blue-eyed girl realized who was making it possible to eat every day! Her eyes widened in the still partial darkness of morning. Ichiraku had been opening earlier for her to eat, and for free, and it was because of her sisters!

Narumi nearly broke down.

Still, she ate, and headed for the academy. A little can in her shorts reminded her of what needed to be done. It was only when the girl was halfway there that she saw the little patch of red following her. Narumi picked up her sister, happy to have family with her. And, for once, not hiding from the roaming eyes in the street. Though she missed the sparks of anger at the sight of her and the fox together.

Finally, within the walls of the academy building, she could start her plan. Into her classroom, and behind the teacher's desk. A quick pop and a few minutes later had both red hair and fur up in the student desks, smirking.

A few of the children filtered through the door a long while later, ignoring the dozing mop of red hair. A loud screech of a moving chair next to her pulled the redhead back from dreamland. Blearily blinking, Narumi checked her side, soon realizing that for the first time it was the girl from the forest was beside her!

"H-Hellow Na-N-Naruto-san"

Narumi smiled brightly, causing a wild blush upon the other girl's face. "Hi! Do yo-"

"Settle Down!"

Narumi blinked, startled by the sudden intrusion. Looking at the source, she found the teacher frowning at the quickly quieting children. Then she looked her way. The quick change from stern unpleasantness to unbridled hatred was not lost upon Narumi. She had seen many expressions of dislike towards her, but this was the most publicly visible the whiskered girl had ever seen.

"What is the meaning of this?! How _DARE_ you bring a fox into class! Get out of my classroom!"

Not just her, but this startled the entire class. The pure venom in her voice could be felt in the air. Her eyes looked to be of fire made in hell. Her body shaking as killing intent sent the class into shivering fear. Narumi herself, being on the receiving end of many people producing this strange feeling, had taken it without issue. Though it was a bit stronger than usual.

A growl, while obviously light in pitch and tone, but deep in nature, quickly caught the attention of those who were better off. Many turned to see the fox in question. In fact, a few recognized it from rumor, and one or two may have even seen it months before, but weren't quite sure.

"I. Said. Get. Out! Or I'll quiet the demon myself!"

While Narumi didn't know quite what was going on, she knew that it was better to get her sister out. But the moment she tried to touch the red fox, it twitched away, keeping its' gaze upon the sensei.

"Fine!" Not an instant later had the woman tossing something too fast for the children to see.

A loud 'poof' of smoke caught everyone's attention. Even Narumi hadn't been able to understand what happened. One moment her foxified sister was there, the next had smoke appearing.

Satisfied with her result, but unsettled that it was a clone, the woman turned cold eyes upon the 'demon child'. "I said, 'get out'." Her words rang cold, as she moved to sit down in her chair.

The children shivered. A few finally found the kunai imbedded within the desk behind Narumi. Until she sat down to a wet squelch. The middle-aged woman quickly stood, looking back at her chair, only to feel dust fall upon her from above.

Her chair was close in color to before, a dirty brown, but was now obviously covered in _paint_! Looking up, just after the dust settled, found the woman looking at a hole in the ceiling. But the sparkles all over specified the nature towards _glitter_! Her normal chuunin attire was now brown all across her back, sparkling the prank to _everyone_ in the room.

Once more the woman's rage took off. She turned around, cursing the demonic child that was obviously laughing at her, ignoring the snickers, giggling, and laughing students surrounding the evil boy. "I'll END YOU!"

* * *

Hiruzen was once again taking his normal morning respite.

Upon the rooftop, he could see most of Konoha. The people moving about the day, getting ready to take on the world as they readied for work. His ninja traversing the rooftops and trees that littered through the village streets, laid by Hashirama as he grew the original housing and market areas. The hilarious antics of the few most would call crazy, but are actually acting such so they can keep from actually going insane. It was an image of peace.

But it was not to continue.

The Hokage shivered terrifically as a darkening malevolence sprouted close below. It wasn't so terrible at first. More like an annoyance making itself known, but a moment later there was a shift towards anger. Even more worrying, _Killing Intent_ was flooding one of the classrooms!

It was all within the frame of a couple seconds, but anything can happen in such a small span of time. Before even his ANBU realized it, the God of Shinobi had awoken. They didn't even see him move, his aging body shouldn't have been capable of that anymore, but he was simply gone. But they knew where he had disappeared to, and were soon following.

What they arrived to was surprising. Their Hokage was holding the hand of an academy teacher. A hand that was cocked, ready to throw a kunai at a student, one which looked to have had another thrown at mere seconds before. What was strangest had to be the fact that the woman was _sparkling_ …

"What the hell is going on in here?!" While spoken normally, the anger was evident.

The stuttering teacher was obviously afraid for her life when she realized just _who_ had stopped her hand from ending the demonic child. Her incoherent words were nothing more than gibberish for the ANBU. It only worsened when a few more appeared within the room, followed by several Jounin and Chuunin outside the window.

Whatever had happened was _not_ a small incident.

* * *

I -lazy- am -lazy- a -lazy- warning -lazy- person!

Wait… WHAT?! W-w-who put those l-lazy's in there?!

...I shall not apologize! I cannot change what I am! I will not deny my true self!

So offerings really rank you! …Say what?! I shan't explain!  
Nobody will figure it out! :p

Okay, back to reality.  
I read a lot, and forget myself while reading.  
Or writing other stories… That may or may not get posted. (I have like five?)  
Anyone have ideas for fighting styles for the twins? While I have an idea, that can easily change. Though I won't go into the specifics or limits of their current abilities yet, and just because I gave them Kekkei Genkai (similar in way as Haku), doesn't mean they're limited to that. The first arc is mostly a series of reality checks for the twins, even if it's not _quite_ understood too well, or that deep compared to what it could be.  
Those that understand my intentions in regards to this story, please feel free to throw ideas around.  
While I _still_ haven't finished 24 and/or 25, I do know what to write. _La_ * _Cough*zy  
_ The next arc has nearly zero in planning done. So any ideas/theories/directions/thoughts are welcome!

 *** _Goes Crazy!_ ***  
* _Turns into a fox*Turns stories into kit-girls*Dive-bomb's kit-girl pile!*  
*Hides in pile of warm fluffy from readers*  
'They'll never find me~ fufu~'  
_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 !Warning!Author!Now!Has!Bodyguards!For!Reviewer!Protection!Warning!

* * *

A red fox looked at the classroom of her sister from a distance.

It was the same tree as usual, a colourful tree decorated with lush leaves, easily hiding her appearance.

 _Oh crap…_

 _No Kidding!_

 _Eh? You know what happened?_

 _...Huh? Wait, how do I know that?!_

 _It doesn't matter! Narumi's going with the Hokage!_

 _What about the teacher?_

 _Those mask people are taking her away._

 _Yes! She was always so mean!_

 _Yea, but our sister's in trouble, and it's our fault!_

 _...But all you did was show up! Wait, no! NO YOU DON'T!_

 _But-_

 _No! Not unless we know she's really in trouble!_

 _...Okay._

Haruna laid down upon the high branch, forcefully keeping herself from following her sister, but keeping her eyes visibly pointed to where she felt the familiar feeling that defined Narumi. It was going to be a long morning…

* * *

Hiruzen let out a weary sigh.

The small child in front of him was trembling, knowing that the entire thing was her fault somehow. Even though that wasn't true. He knew it wasn't. Even with the quick rundown another student bravely recalled, he knew that none of this was her fault. There was an opportunity here, but he wasn't sure he wanted to take it. But the feeling from earlier...

"It's okay, Naru-chan. Just tell me what happened."

Her tearing eyes looked up. "O-Okay Jiji.. Um, sensei told me to leave again, and to take Haru-chan with me. But instead, Haru-chan growled. I've NEVER heard her growl! But sensei was mad! Really mad. I-I tried to grab Haru-chan to take her out, b-but she moved away… Sensei got even more madder. A-And sensei did something to make Haruna go away!" Narumi practically sobbed, not knowing what happened to her sister.

Another weary sigh escaped him as he listened on. There were some strange points that he picked up on, and he did not like what those were. And no matter how much he wanted to ask about the fox, he needed to focus on the rest first. If it wasn't able to dodge a simple kunai, then maybe the sibling vulpines were not as much a threat as he assumed, despite the feelings they produced.

His instinct was saying otherwise, but every single visible fact has shown them to be completely peaceful… until now. And that was only because of Narumi. "How many times has your teacher sent you from the classroom?"

"Eh? Every day?"

Hiruzen's heart dropped. How had this happened? How had he let it happen so easily? "What did you do? Did she let you back inside?"

Narumi's brows furrowed, forgetting why the teacher was actually sending her out, according to her sisters, and what her sensei said each day. "No? I was told to hold buckets of water until dark. That kind of training hurts, dattebane."

Now the old man really did feel truly old. His age might not be so high yet, but this made him feel double his true age. He was missing many details pertaining to this girl's life, and the more he learned, the more he regretted not receiving detailed reports from more than one source. It was obvious they were either withholding information or being altered. It was rare to receive reports directly, and this caused many problems, obviously, but there simply wasn't time.

"But it was getting easier! ..Though I kind of wanna be in the classroom too, with the other, 'ttebane~" Narumi blushed.

Despite everything, the verbal tick of her mother was slowly dissolving the pain. "We'll fix that, Narumi. Now, how did your fox friend disappear?"

"Eh?" Again, Narumi looked down, visibly upset. "Into a cloud? I don't really know, but you gotta make sensei bring her back!" Determination lit her features.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Don't worry, my dear. If it was smoke, then your friend is fine. She obviously used a justu," a clone jutsu, which is worrying, "allowing her to escape unharmed." Maybe the foxes were dangerous after all.. A wild animal that can use jutsu is not normal.

"Really?! Haru-chan's okay?! YATTA!"

Finally, the eldering Kage was cheering up. It was always pleasant to have the girl around. "Now, why did you put paint on her chair and glitter in the ceiling?"

"Eh~?" Stunned out of her jumping about, Narumi took on a guilty look, rubbing the back of her head. "She was always making me hold the buckets, not letting me be with the others. And she was, um, so se-s-serious! Ya, that's it! Mean and serious! She needed to stop it, make her have fun! ..but I didn't do the glitter?"

The Kage watched as confusion took form upon the redhead prankster. Another child pranked the woman as well? And the fox shows up the same day? That's far too coincidental. "I'd like it if you could introduce me to your fox friends soon. Do you know why Haru-chan come with you today?" He mixed his words, keeping the child from properly responding to his request, not allowing her to decline.

Narumi tilted her head. "I dunno? Maybe she'll come again? I really hope so!" Her eyes widened suddenly, "Oh no! Fuyu-chan is gonna be sad! Her sister's gone, and I don't know where!"

The Hokage chuckled once more at the frantic child.

* * *

Haruna watched as a spot of red exited the Hokage's building.

She had seen how the class had been told to self study for the day, but it was apparent that Narumi wasn't going to return. And it was obvious something was wrong by the speed she was running, not to mention her face. Looking to her side, she nodded, and a blur fled from the tree.

Narumi herself was speeding towards Ichiraku's Ramen, worried about her sister. No matter what Jiji said, she had to be sure. The time it was taking to run there was too long though! Her feet moved faster and faster.

She huffed as the flaps fluttered behind her. Ignoring the people animatedly talking beside her, she crawled up onto the seat. Just as she was about to open her mouth, something fuzzy landed into her lap. Narumi startled, but looked down at the red and blonde face staring up at her. She gasped, "Haru-chan! You're okay! I was so worried, dattebane!"

Haruna purred into the loving hug, despite the little-too-tight feeling of getting crushed. Her efforts worked, getting the tightness to dissipate. She didn't want to disappear again, after all.

While their sister was talking to the Hokage, they had been going back and forth about different things. The biggest was about how Fuyuna knew what happened inside the classroom. And they wanted to try it out as soon as possible. If they both really received the 'memories' too, then they could do so much more! Though it would be weird to both be remembering the same thing, they were once originally the same, after all.

Narua peeked out of the back, wondering why her non-fox sister was there. She carefully avoided being seen by the others outside, though she felt the anger of one of them spiking. The sight of her sister getting hugged made her giggle, then blink confused as Narumi picked her her foxy sister up, staring her in the eyes.

"Never do that to me again!" Narumi commanded cutely.

Narua could swear she felt her sister smirking as her twins amusement reached an all time high through the vague emotional link between them. Then there was a 'poof' and Narumi's hands were suddenly empty, leaving her sister staring blankly at the spot.

Many would be confused that night about several sources of hidden laughter, and one of indignant outrage.

* * *

A golden fox laid in front of an apartment door. She was truly unique, with four red stripes, originating from around her eyes, two flowing to the tufts of fur within her ears, and another two down each side of her face, upper back, and to the tip of her tail.

Having waited there in the cool morning for a little too long, she hadn't noticed the opening of a door, or the small footsteps of the girl exiting it. Not even when the door closed loudly did she stir. However, when said child stumbled across her, not only did she awake, but the little fox found herself in mid air, quickly headed towards the ground at the bottom of the steps.

The girl herself was wide-eyed at the sudden change, and only barely caught herself from falling completely by using the railing to her side. A yellow ball of fuzzy caught her eye as soon as she was nearly steadied, and she watched as it landed safely upon all four of its legs. It looked around for a moment, obviously confused, but then looked up at her, before finally putting it together. Narumi was quite shocked when she heard a growl as the little gold fuzzball shook its head.

Not just Haruna, but Fuyuna growled! Though it seemed Fuyu-chan did so at.. herself? Narumi was just confused, because her fox-sister wasn't looking at anyone as it did so. But that was all she could think of. It looked back up at her as it stopped, then twisted its head sideways, a universal symbol for 'follow'.

She happily did so, a bright smile lighting her face!

Once more, it was really early in the morning. Just before sunrise. This was the only time that there would be nobody at Ichiraku's. The only time that people weren't around to give her a hard time. But it was also the only time that people tried things. So, once more, she tried to stay hidden as the redhead made way to get breakfast. Though her sister wasn't making nearly as much of an effort.

A sudden 'thunk' and 'poof' left her paused mid-stride. She looked slowly to where the small form of a fox should have been, had been, and was not anymore. All that was left was a Kunai in its place. "Kyaa!"

Looking around, wide-eyed, Narumi found nobody around. Even up on the rooftops, she couldn't see anyone. Her body shook as it dawned upon her that the kunai could have just as easily been aimed at her. Even more, if her sister hadn't used that strange 'jutsu' to escape, then she could have _died_!

Much more slowly, far more carefully, the little redheaded fox container made her way towards breakfast. It may have taken longer than usual, but she was not letting something like that happen to her!

* * *

Inu threw a kunai.

He had been watching, observing, for years now. Originally, he had been intent upon taking missions. The more he took, the more dangerous, the more he could take his mind away from the pain, the better. He couldn't get close to anyone again. But he also wouldn't let anyone on his team die. Never again.

That a few measly years later when the Hokage approached him.

His sensei's daughter had been attacked. It may not have been the first time anyone tried anything - he knew it wasn't - but it was the first that was more than a mere assassination attempt. The people themselves didn't know it at first, but soon word spread about the child as she was allowed to roam the streets freely, rather than remain cooped up within her apartment.

Narumi's red hair was too much of a reminder of _that_ night to the civilian people. It wouldn't have meant much if she didn't contain the very beast their grief was revolving about. The sheer number of casualties that night were daunting. Most had actually been from the creature suddenly appearing, and merely crushing the buildings underneath. But that was still _over a thousand_ people. Every few steps or wave of its tails shredded dozens and hundreds. It was simply moving, and people were dieing!

So when they found red, they saw red. It took a few days, but it happened. And when it was asked of him to protect her at night while another ANBU captain took the day shift, he couldn't decline. Not after hearing that his last link was in danger. It was a twelve hour shift, and considered an S-Rank mission per week, but was easily worth the effort to him.

He had watched her grow for a while, seen how she slowly took towards hiding, avoiding groups wherever she went, except during the day with masses around, and attempted to find the few that wouldn't scorn her very existence each day.

So far that list was short, nearly nonexistent.

There were few instances he was needed, but they were quickly removed. His orders were to remain hidden unless absolutely necessary. When it was reported about contact with a couple foxes, his attention was immediately drawn. They weren't the _demon_ _fox_ , but it was still abnormal. He listened, waited, even watched a few times himself.

He knew that regular foxes were nothing like them, and had nothing against the animal itself, he was still suspicious of anything and everything. Both were unordinarily intelligent. Further investigation pointed him towards the forest and recent inexplicable chakra flow around Konoha. Neko's observations helped, and the Hokage's experienced insight furthered this, but they hadn't quite grasped everything. Neither had he, but he could still see there was far more to both than a mere link to the forest and emotionally comforting chakra.

While he might not harbor any ill unnecessary ill will, the rest of Konoha did. Even more, after observing the creatures, he felt a tinge of kinship towards them as they not only played with the girl, but seemed to help the scared remembrance of his sensei. This only increased when he heard about them outing the teacher that had actually gone out of her way to keep Narumi from even staying in her academy classroom.

Slowly, but surely, the foxes were making more and more effort to help his ward. To keep her from complete isolation, even if it was with mere animals. Even this morning, when it was possible for the girl to have been injured, he could tell that it was purely accidental, and that the golden fox actually got angry at itself told him far more than everything else combined. It wasn't the primary reason he withheld his thoughts and findings, but it was a big part of it.

After all, even if he hadn't come across either in their forest, his searches weren't as uneventful or unproductive as the rest of Konoha's trackings.

Inu was simply uncomfortable with reporting the possibilities without absolute proof...

So when he felt that spike of killing intent, while it wasn't aimed towards the child herself and initially dismissing it, took a second look to feel it actually directed at one of the few that even attempted to go near the child. He couldn't directly stop the attack, it was already too late to jump in. His reaction slow due to his initial observation, Inu's kunai hadn't made it in time to shock the other from attacking. It wasn't directly aimed at the attacker, landing visibly between his feet, but more of a clear warning that even genin would notice, and yet still too slow. But if the fox dodged, then it would stop anything further.

Unfortunately, the attack landed. Fortunately, it was a **Kage Bunshin** _._ How a fox could use that skill, he couldn't understand. How a fox even knew it, even less so. But the attacker, a chuunin in his mid-twenties, quickly scurried away. He hadn't killed the fox, obviously, and he just made the mistake of angering an ANBU. It was definitely not his morning.

Luckily for him, Inu was more worried for his ward. She turned even more frightened after the small incident. She was taking it harder than she should, if she knew it was a clone, but not bad enough to indicate that she thought the creature was killed. He was thankful for that last bit, at least. And it was decent training for the girl.

What surprised him was that halfway to her destination, _both_ foxes appeared in front of her. They were running, ignoring anyone that could have been after them, not even bothering to notice that another genin and chuunin were chasing from the roofs behind them, trying to take them out. They had only slowed when Narumi appeared in their vision. Obviously the clone's memories wouldn't tell how it died, but the fact it did worried them.

Once more, Inu sent warning kunai towards the two ninja. While he didn't know if these two were the real version or not, he didn't want to chance it again. It might make others angry, but the happiness of his sensei's legacy was more important. Her safety more so, and two shinobi throwing kunai her direction was no longer permittable. He had just seen the effects, after all.

Inu just wondered if they would be following her more sharply from now on… What would happen from now on if they do? While helping, they also draw more attention, pull more hatred, draw forth many who would love to kill his sensei's daughter. For the first time in year, Inu did more than merely think logically, protect his comrades, kill enemies, or take action.

He _worried_ …

* * *

Yes! Finally! I proof. . . skimmied! No 'Thank You's necessary! :D


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

* * *

"This kanji means child. But if you combine it with thi-"

"Alright Ayame, that's enough. They need to head home. It's time to close shop." Teuchi grunted.

"Mn! I'll help. Come on you two, let's get… Fuyu-chan?" Ayame poked the side of the blonde's ear, only for it to twitch away. The little fox didn't stir. "Eh?"

"I'll take her. It's okay Ayame-nee, thank you for helping us." Haruna leant over to pick her sister up from Ayame's lap. The little fox didn't stir. She sighed, shaking her head. Getting petted by someone else always seems to put either of them into a deep sleep if it goes on too long. "I guess I should head home. We'll stay later tomorrow night for more help."

Ayame smiled, "see you then!"

The redhaired twin returned it. Haruna pulled her cowl up, covering her head with the eared hood. It hung loosely over her upper arms, just over where she held her blonde foxified sister. Carefully, she manipulated her tail to slip back into her flower-smooth kimono. Another change from the previous yukata was that its inner layer was the colour of the outer layer of their twin's kimono.

Her small dainty hands flowed through the fur of her sister's fur. Purring soon drifted through her arms and ears. Haruna smiled as her heart warmed. She didn't know it, but these feelings were conveyed throughout Konoha. Her stronger emotions always were. It didn't matter the type, but the ambient chakra that is slowly released from the twins easily convey their emotions. And like always, the slight change made those around feel a little calmer and comfortable.

Going her normal route through the almost pitch dark night, the child didn't pay much attention to her surroundings like normal. Her focus was maintained upon the fox within her arms. Though they didn't normally pet one another, it was still something they enjoyed. Neither could do it as well as Hinata or Ayame, but they knew where to do it.

"Put the fox down, kid."

Haruna almost jumped out of her skin upon hearing the voice. Her slitted eyes looked up at the person, the man, in front of her. Looking around, she found that they were in a dark, nearly pitch black alley. Though she could still easily see the man, he was much more grey from the night skies. Looking back, the kitsune child found the man frowning deeper than before. He was wearing standard dark pants and a green vest over his black long sleeve shirt. A holster on one leg and the Konoha headband over spiky brown hair told her that he was a Shinobi of Konoha.

Haruna blinked a few times before responding with a simple "no."

The Shinobi growled, seriously growled, at the response. "I said, put, him, down, kid. I ain't playin."

Frowning, Haruna's slit eyes thinned. She didn't notice the man slightly shiver at the sight. Haruna wasn't really even angry. The young girl simply didn't like the man. He was telling her what to do for no reason. She wouldn't listen to someone telling her to put her sister down. Especially when the person felt so-so dark! Not ever. "She's sleeping. So no."

He practically snarled. "Don't say I didn't warn you!" Quickly, the shinobi sprang forward. In a single second, he was behind Haruna, who's eyes widened at the unexpected movement. He brought his hand down, aiming for her neck. Turning as quick as her small body would allow, Haruna found the arm coming. Her half-hearted attempt to dodge ended with her stumbling sideways, tripping over her own feet. Her sister's fox-form was flung from her arms.

Ignoring the falling kid, the shinobi dug a kunai from his holster and quickly flung it at the falling fox. He hadn't wanted to do it in front of the cute kid, but the demons needed to be gone. And she likely wouldn't let him at the fox again. She didn't just dodge his hit, but was quick. Very quick! It was unlikely he could quickly knock her out without hurting her. It was better to just rid the girl of it in front of her than hurt her to try keeping her from seeing the sight.

Despite the accident, Haruna easily twisted to fall with the attacker facing her, bracing her fall with her arms on instinct. Only then did she see her floating sister and the thing flying towards her. A kunai flying towards her! Haruna was quickly frozen as a sickening sound came, indicating the blade clearly sliced through her blonde sister's neck!

Horrified at the sight, terrified of what happened to her sister, but unable to look from the bloody form of her nearly decapitated sister, Haruna's lips trembled. Tears threatened to spill out, before her trembling form forced them to.

"...Fuyuna?" She whispered. The blood leaking from the wound was spreading fast. Only a little bit of muscle and fur connected the two together. "F-Fuyuna?"

"Hmph, you shouldn't get that upset over an animal kid, especially demon spawn." The fox killer shrugged. He started to turn away before hearing something around him on the ground. Before he could look down, the man felt a squeeze all around his body. Startled at the sudden change in the situation, he almost missed the complete change in atmosphere.

As if the world itself was in pain and anguish. It was such a sudden shift that the presence within Konoha quickly caught the attention of anyone capable of feeling chakra or had naturally attuned senses towards nature, unlike before where it was only noticed by those sensitive.

The normal comforting feeling felt as if it never existed. No longer did anyone feel the caring, comforting love that radiated the village. All they felt was the confused suffering, the tormenting anguish that was held within the chakra. So startled by the sudden change to what had been a constant, every single creature sensing it froze.

If it was anger or killing intent, they wouldn't have had such a reaction. Shinobi would have quickly organized to locate the threat. But this… Nobody was prepared for such an intense emotion to spread around. It was only a moment later when they finally did feel that anger, but it was nothing compared to the agony. And only then did the more powerful within Konoha start moving around again, afraid for what might soon be a catastrophe.

The cause of this shift himself had only belatedly noticed it. He was too afraid by the glowing slit eyes staring at him, pained in a way he hadn't seen since the day after the Kyuubi attack. Looking down, he found himself held within tree trunks. Roots and branches had sprung from the ground to encircle his entirety. His arms and legs were clamped together, with small limbs encircling his body underneath the larger branches. "Wha-?"

"Why?"

Finally noticing the tears pouring down the child's face, the man truly felt regret. Her voice was quiet, but full of pain. Her suffering was laid bare for him to see, and he couldn't stop from worrying, both about the girl and his predicament. It wasn't difficult to put together; he had just angered a user of Mokuton. He had just killed the pet of a girl with the same gift of the Shodaime Hokage! "I-I'm Sorry!"

"You apologize? Right after you kill her? ..I asked, why?"

His heart clenched at the broken voice. The girl was on the verge of collapse. There have been many who has fallen to despair in the war. He had seen them. Both enemy and ally alike, it was a terrible scene. Unfortunately, the difference is he had just instilled such into a child, an innocent girl with the ability to crush him where he is. "It-" He stopped at the angry glare, "S-She's a fox! A spawn of the demon! I ha-" He didn't get much further. The unnamed shinobi finally noticed the rising anger and killing intent his words were causing. "P-Please-"

"You.. You killed her… because she's a fox?" Haruna's temper brought a pulse of energy expelling from her last word, knocking her hood back off her head, making the other person's eyes go wide in disbelief at the lowered fox ears upon her head.

"Because you think she's a spawn of 'the demon'?" She knew it might be true, but they hadn't done anything to anyone! Another pulse of energy blew the wind around them within the small alley, shifting her kimono enough to allow her tail free.

This time, the tangled shinobi trembled in fear. He had angered a Mokuton user, one that looked to be part fox, by killing her pet fox! He could instantly tell that her features weren't fake. The tail had quickly puffed out, bristling with emotion, much like her shifting fox ears.

"What did we ever do to you?" Haruna nearly whispered, trembling, before raising her voice again, her chakra building up for a third time. "What did SHE do to y-"

"Ngh~ Nee-chan? You're too loud~" A quiet groan came from the side. Suddenly, everything froze. Haruna and the captured man stilled at the sudden sound. The atmosphere unmoving and confusing. Both adult and child looked over to see another girl near identical girl to the first sitting up from where the fox once laid. "What are you so angry for?" The blonde rubbed an eye, trying to get the sleep out of it.

"F-Fuyuna?" The redhead nearly sobbed out. Stunned disbelief quickly gave way to incredible happiness. Tremors racked her body before she suddenly crashed into her sister, hugging her tight before actually sobbing for a moment. "I th-thought you w-were gone!" Once more pain intermixed with her other joyous emotions. These was quickly reflected in the atmosphere, removing most of the radiating anguish.

Fuyuna herself merely blinked in confusion, not knowing what had even happened. There had been a small twinge in her neck when she woke to her sister's yelling, but it hadn't felt all that terrible. Then again, they were almost immune to pain now, considering their games and stunts the two had been pulling lately. They healed from it all anyways. It still hurt, but they typically ignored it. "Umm, I don't know what you're saying. But, isn't he not supposed to see us?" Fuyuna said, pointing towards the entangled man watching the twins, terrified.

"eh? EEH~? Crap! RUN!" Fuyuna quickly shot up, pulling her sister to her feet in the same motion. Fuyuna took a strange glance back at the rooted man before giggling. They were leaving him there, forcing him to wait for someone else to help him get free. Turning back, she found a teary eyed twin looking back, waiting for her. Seeing this, she chased after her, feeling bad. If her sister was crying, something bad had to have happened. And she didn't even know what!

A short instant after the twins disappeared from sight, a masked figured dropped into the alley, staring off in the direction the twins disappeared in. He ignored the man trying to get his attention for a moment, pulling a cloth back over his red and black eye underneath his ANBU mask. Turning around, the masked man glared at the gulping chuunin. "You will speak of this to nobody but the Hokage. What you saw is classified to him, and ONLY him. Understood?"

The entangled man nodded vigorously. A short moment later had him freed from the living binds, which were soon mostly incinerated. In another few moments, several more figures started appearing. All notable figures within the village, and all geared for combat. Most notable was the Hokage himself, who took a quick survey. All that was left had been a few branches in Inu's hand, ashes, and an obviously terrified chuunin. "Inu, report with the witness to debrief room three. Neko, take over Inu's shift. Everyone else is dismissed."

Slowly the group dissipated. The Hokage stayed for a few more moments feeling out the chakra, a very familiar signature, that had thoroughly and heavily permeated the area. "This is quite unsettling…"

* * *

There were two girls in the village of Konoha who were unable to sleep.

They were frightened. Not of anything nearby or even about themselves. They were afraid for what they felt. Neither could explain it, but it was terrible. They knew those emotions themselves.

Hinata couldn't help but shiver as she recalled the few seconds of despair that she had felt. It was unlike anything she knew of. The pain and terror. What had happened? She really wished that her family wasn't so strict! There was no way for her to check. It was only now that it all calmed back down to almost normal. The biggest feeling was comfort and the other was pain. She knew few could feel it as well, but it seemed that her whole family had felt the terrible pain from earlier. If it hadn't been so conspicuous, she might have been able to sneak out to find out what happened and if the twins were okay, but she couldn't. And she hated it!

The other girl was awake for another reason. Her instinct was telling her something happened. That feeling, those emotions, they were so familiar. And when they popped up while walking towards her apartment, she ran towards them. Narumi didn't know how she knew, but she knew where to go. But as soon as she thought that it was right next to her, it was gone! Frustrated, the little girl walked around the area for a few minutes. It was nearby, and she knew it was! So why couldn't she find it?

Narumi never noticed her guard following her towards it, that he temporarily left her once close enough, that her guards was soon replaced by another, that she walked past a bundle of ashes in her search. She never found anything!

But what the blue-eyed girl felt worried her sick. And she didn't even know why!

Frustrated, Narumi finally trudged home...

* * *

Two childish figures were lying quietly upon the soft flower bed in one of their special underground homes. The first was sitting cross-cross, frowning, as she ran her small hands through the fur-like hair that tickled her lap. Her mind was racing as she tried to understand what she heard. Another shiver in her lap had the blonde girl's other hand moving.

The other figure was lying down on the flower bed, crying her heart out, with her head upon her sister's lap. Soft ministrations were helping to calm her down, but she couldn't help but remember that instant running through her head over and over again. The second hand descended upon her ears, scratching and petting the anguish from her system. Every stroke, every motion, every little bit of contact between them helped to ensure that her sister was really there.

But the memories were still there…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 - !Warning!Not!Responsible!For!Reviewers!Bills!Warning!

* * *

Jiraiya was not a man known to be serious.

He was aloof, playful, and always easy going. He would pull nearly situation or conversionation towards perversion, just to see how women react. Of course there was far more to it than that. The more he learned from reactions, the better he learned to read people. How better to do so than by acting in a manner that would break open even the toughest facades?

It helped that he truly enjoyed the female form enough that his actions didn't need to be faked.

But not today. For the first time in years - no, maybe not that long, not with looking for Orochimaru - he was unable to bring himself to act carefree. A messenger toad had brought him disturbing new from Konoha in the middle of the night. His sensei wouldn't use his emergency contact without reason, usually waiting for the monthly contact to do so for him.

He had heard rumors before, but for the first time his sensei had concrete information. Intel that could prove more than useful. Maybe enough to bring Tsunade back to Konoha. As it were, the old man needed him back too. But he felt that it should be done with her for many more reasons than the obvious. Jiraiya could easily handle it by himself, but hoped that this could be enough to snap Tsunade from her slump.

Consent to enter the Senju grounds and the clan compound was required from his old friend, but she wasn't technically needed herself. There was another in Konoha that could get in, not that the man ever would without express permission. He probably didn't believe he could in the first place, anyways. It was best if it were Tsunade herself.

There were many reasons for his shift in course towards the nearest gambling town. Most of which were based around the abilities recently discovered to exist once more. More so in the child, _children_ , themselves. All the possibilities, theories, circumstances were relayed to him, and Jiraiya could barely make sense of them, rather _how_ it was possibly true.

But it was his sensei's word.

His only consolation was imagining the faces of those decrepit councilors demanding information that the Hokage wasn't willing to divulge. It was too sensitive. Just as much, if not more so, than even his godchild's heritage. He would check in when he got back… rather than simply read the letters the old monkey sent regarding her.

Going back….. he hadn't been in Konoha for years.

"I hope this will be enough for you Tsunade…"

* * *

Once more, Hiruzen was feeling truly old.

He puffed his pipe in the early morning light, remembering last night's events. Rather, what he learned from them. It was impossible to say the least, but Inoichi had confirmed the memories. They were real, untampered, and impossible.

But reality told him otherwise.

Two little girls were running around Konoha with the ability to shift into foxes. **Henge** was simply an illusion that used smoke to cover up the change. A physical change like they were using would require far more chakra than a child should possess. But it was their natural traits that were unnerving.

They physically possessed true traits of a fox. While that alone was enough cause for worry, a resemblance to Uzumaki Narumi was far more worrying. His only consolation was that they were both girls and seemed to be protecting her. There could always be some plot underneath it all, but it just didn't seem so. The twins would have already pulled something had that been the case…

"..zen"

In all honesty, the aging leader didn't know what to make of it all. On one hand, he finally had proof that the forest wasn't simply putting out chakra, but was simply conforming to the residents within. On another, they were completely peaceful so far, not even killing the man that tried killing one of them unprovoked.

"...ruzen"

And with Kakashi's testimony, they each possessed an extinct bloodline. While Biju did have the capability to use elemental chakra that required bloodlines in humans to possess such capability, none had the two mentioned. Further, their physical appearance should be impossible. Kushina had a single child, not triplets. He knew it was impossible, yet true - a Senju related to Hashirama, and a Yukina, both with Kyuubi traits with an appearance that literally mirrored Kushina's daughter in nearly every aspect, and and whiskers included, only separated by hair colour, fox ears and tail, and the apparent ability to regenerate from fatal wounds.

"Hiruzen!"

Blinking, he looked towards the slightly huffing voice of an annoyed Koharu. Had he been so caught up in thoughts that they had to yell to get his attention? "I apologize, Homura, Koharu, Danzo. However, I am unable to release the information of last night at this time. It's far too sensitive, and best handled with utmost discretion."

Danzo raised an eyebrow, the only visible one, at the reply. "You intend to take care of this matter personally?"

Hiruzen chuckled. "No, there is only one in our force that can truly handle the matter. I've already informed him about the details; can't afford any interference from any outside parties."

Danzo knew the Hokage meant his ROOT. He also knew who had been called. Still, he would not give up. For months, years, he had his best searching for the source of chakra without luck. Whatever Hiruzen had, it was by mere coincidence that he knew. Unfortunately, the only lead he had was out of reach. He couldn't place any of his own to trail the Uzumaki, and the damn foxes were incredibly skilled at evasion. He would have to wait until the ANBU released that Chunin for anything more, apparently.

It would be much too problematic to take any other course for the moment...

Hiruzen watched as his old teammates about to retort before turning stunned faces towards the door as Danzo exited. If he was already giving up, then they obviously wouldn't get anything either. "I guess we will have to wait for the news."

"Indeed. Koharu and I hope you will relate your information at a later time. Good day, Hiruzen."

The Hokage sighed once more as the door closed. "Damn you, Minato"

After a moment of self pity, he stood up and walked towards the door. He had a man to visit about a couple little helpers he had recently picked up. And maybe an early lunch.

* * *

"Eh? Hinata?" Narumi stared at the bluenette in the early morning sunrise.

"K-Konnichiwa Naruto-san." Hinata moved to sit down next to her first friend, who smiled wide.

"Wanna walk to the academy with me?"

"I w-would enjoy th-that." She blushed before remembering why she came. "A-Ano, are Haruna and Fuyuna here?"

"Mn? Yeah?" Narumi looked confused, but she had also checked. She didn't know why, but felt that she had to do it. Though the redhead had expected to see at least one of them at her apartment in the morning as she walked to the stand. They seemed a little off, but both were already working in the kitchen.

"I s-see. Thank you." Waves of relief seemed to flow off of the pale-eyed girl. She inclined her head in thanks just as Teuchi came out with two bowls, setting it down in front of them saying it was on the house. He had walked back into the kitchen before Hinata could decline.

"Itadakimasu~" Narumi called out before digging in. This was soon followed by Hinata in a much more graceful way.

Back in the kitchen, Teuchi frowned for a moment as he watched the girls move about. He had almost missed it, but knew something was wrong. He had felt that strange dreadful feeling the night before, and it was eerily familiar. Unlike a shinobi, he couldn't place it though. But he somehow knew it was the twins that were in the center of it. The way Haruna kept her tail touching her twin at all times was proof of that.

But he decided not to ask. They were unharmed, and already happily shifting around to help. Instead, the middle-aged man smiled. As always, it was a cute scene, even more than usual as they tried to get everything done without tripping over each other.

But still… "Why don't you two go out there with your friends. I'll make the rest."

It didn't happen every morning, but once in awhile they would do it, and enjoy a bowl with their sister. Smiling brightly, after an almost too quick to recognize 'arigatou gozaimasu' both girls ran out the door as their features flowed to hide under their clothes.

Teuchi sighed with a small smile as the chatting already doubled in volume.

* * *

In the darkness, a length of softness slid across an uncovered arm.

A triangular ear twitched in response, followed by a different length of fur tightening around the small waist held within its grasp. Beside it, two similarly coloured lengths of fur reacted similarly, pulling the warmth within their grasp closer. Nearly inaudible, a choked sob broke from the sleeping form.

Subconsciously reacting, the other form curled closer, her own tails similarly tightening their hold upon the pained family within her grasp. Both were nearly oblivious to the world. It was only upon her awakening and insistence that had allowed their current schedule to be maintain. But it wasn't in her heart to force her sister to go out while hurting. She needed to sleep it off apparently, no that the young child truly minded.

Their huddled forms remained invisible under yellow and red fur within the darkness as they continually comforted each other for more time than either cared to know.

* * *

An interesting sight marked Konoha that morning.

Some people looked on in anger, others in confusion. Many were disgruntled beyond belief, while a few were more than stunned in wonderment. There were so many reactions among the few people that lined the streets that morning.

But they knew not to cause a public scene.

The Uzumaki Demon and Hyuuga Princess were walking together to school with a fox in each child's arms. Furthermore, they were pleasantly talking to each other, smiling, as they scratched the small ears on the animals they carried. Animals that were rumored to have taken occupancy within Konoha's Senju Forest.

It was such an impossible scene for most, they were left just standing there, unable to form coherent thought. On one hand, there was a rumor that the Demon used a fox to attack a teacher, forcing her from the position. On the other, the Heiress to one of the most prominent clans was holding said demon as if it were a kitten.

Was he somehow controlling the Hyuuga child? Were the foxes making the girl hold them? Why weren't the Hyuuga reacting? What were they doing letting them get so close to one another? How had they even caught the demons that took over the forest?

While the civilians, and civilian born shinobi, were going rampant in their ugly thoughts, the few shinobi that knew better were following along the rooftops in interest. They had never seen the creatures before. It was interesting that they were even alive to be seen from recent years.

What bothered them were the few people that had obviously started to follow the children. Even if they knew that an ANBU was following the children, it wouldn't be enough to stop trouble from arising. Trouble the Hokage would have their asses for should he learn that nobody stopped something before it even happened. A couple chuunin leaped down from the rooftops in front of a few people, civilian and shinobi alike, blocking their small procession.

All this had gone completely unnoticed by the two girls as the continued on. Each girl was more interesting in the first friend they had ever found than most anything else, easily keeping their attention away from possibly troubles, and their ministrations unknowingly comforting the nervous foxes held within their arms, as they picked up on the growing negativity.

Neither girl knew what had nearly happened that day. Neither would find out. But the stirrings had already spread around. So many little happenings that neither picked up on, but could turn into something far more terrible than either could ever understand. It was so little, and yet so big. Both children entered the academy without incident and unaware.

* * *

Sorry about the naming in last chapter. Apparently I missed that one when going through to fix the back and forth I'd had going on throughout the chapters I'd already written at the time.

So~ I've come to an understanding about myself. I'm not only lazy, fall prey to ADD, and read FF myself, but I write in spurts. A month of writing is offset by a month or two of reading, thinking, and procrastinating. I refuse to take my ADD medicine to concentrate on writing when it's not needed (...I lose sleep, and I like my beauty sleep!), so that puts me out of more, quicker writing as well. I have like four or five stories written around september that are at least 30k in length, and another non-FF written around december. So yea...

And no, the twins are not invulnerable. I'll just say that they're like the Kyuubi now.

Haruna can kind of manipulate nature, plantlife, as seen. It's obvious that she cannot necessarily do overly much with it yet. Just like with Fuyuna and her ice. Their chakra naturally takes to their given element, but have not been trained in the elements that they are combined from. Kind of like Haku, who can use Ice and water, but obviously had no training in wind. The element just comes to them, but that doesn't make them all powerful with it yet.

Anyways, Thank You for the Reviews! :D


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

* * *

"I would like Miso, please." An aged voice called out.

"Understood sir, one moment!"

The elder spread his senses as he patiently waited for the chef to return with his order. It was quickly confirmed that three presences were in the back area. It was strange, because there had been a report during his walk that said both should have been at the academy. The incident a few days came to mind, reminding him that clones were within their capability.

It was unfortunate, but there was no guarantee that his force could capture the children, even if they tried. With their ability, it wouldn't be out of the question that they would have disappeared before anyone could even get close enough to try. But someone had managed to nearly kill one of them too. Why was that?

"H-Hokage-sama! I didn't recognize your voice. Ah, I apologize. Here, your ramen." Teuchi laid the bowl in front of the red and white clad man.

"It's alright Ichiraku-san. There's no need for formalities. I've heard you were helping out a little redheaded child recently. I'd like to thank you for that."

"It's no problem at all." Teuchi remarked, nervously, finally noticing how empty his stand was.

Hiruzen took a few bites before responding. "Nonsense, it takes a lot to feed the boy. Though I heard you had a little help lately, maybe that's why you haven't had too much trouble keeping up?"

"Hai… They're good kids." Teuchi started sweating a little. He knew there would be no escape should the Hokage order his capture or interrogation.

"Hmm, twin girls I heard. How did you meet?"

Teuchi thankfully recognized that he was only going to have an informal interrogation. It wouldn't be marked or recorded. But there was no lying. He couldn't protect the girls any longer, but maybe he could keep them from being taken or locked away. The ramen chef could only hope. "They came by for ramen, but were unable to pay. I had them work in the kitchen, but they ended up turning it into a warzone. I'll never forget how frightened they were while covered from head to toe in their mess... To pay me back, they started working here, but eventually asked if their work could pay for another's daily food."

"I see…" Hiruzen whittled down a bit more of his early lunch. "Do you know of their special _traits_?"

Teuchi reluctantly nodded, sighing. "If I tell you what I know about them, could I have your guarantee that nothing will change?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee anything. Sadly, I had been unaware of their very existence until recently. Without a basis, I am unable to form proper judgement. However, I will assure you that I will attempt proper measures to suit their interests if possible."

"..Just remember, they are children." Teuchi stayed still for a moment, before pulling the door next to him open as he turned. Both men were surprised to find the two subjects of conversation fall out in a small pile. He chuckled as they quickly scrambled back into the kitchen squealing at being caught.

The Hokage himself followed suit, laughing softly at the antics before deftly hopping over the counter to follow Teuchi into the kitchen. Unfortunately his amusement was cut short at the wide-eyed fright of the shivering girls. Hiruzen realized the final piece in that moment - they were children. The girls were kids, yes, but only now did he truly understand that the truth and comprehend it. They were _children_.

"Don't worry, kids. I'm not going to do anything more than talk. We have much to discuss…"

It took a moment for the fright to melt from the _children_ , but when it did, the most surprising thing happened. Their eyes that showed fear, worry, and absolute distrust, resolved into determination. A few words and a poof later left Teuchi dumbfounded and the Hokage chuckling. "Interesting…"

* * *

"While there is no rule against bringing animal familiars into class, please refrain from disturbing it." Chided a white haired elderly.

Narumi shrunk in on herself at the stern look of contempt and disgust that yet another teacher was displaying. He hadn't even glanced towards her new friend who was doing the same with Fuyuna. She promptly stopped petting the furry softness held in her lap with a nod. Soon the purrs ceased, but soft breathing indicated that her foxified sister was sleeping.

"Good. Now class, we're going to cover the second Hokage today. If you remember, he was the First Hokage, Hashirama's, younger brother. He w-"

While it was overall boring, Narumi was all too happy to be included in the lectures to ignore them. She didn't get punished like before, and could actually learn something! Her friend was even sitting next to her! If she just ignored the man's obvious dislike of her, then she could bear it. Soon, she would even be able to read the textbook too! Her nee-chan's were helping so much that she had headaches!

So much was being stuffed into her head that it was unbelievable. Already Narumi had learned more in the last few weeks than an entire year, and she felt as if there wasn't enough. The small headaches would go away quickly enough, thankfully. Maybe she could take the textbooks to her sisters and learn with them?

"Naruto, read page 23."

"Eh? O-Okay." Turning the book in front of her to the, um, 23, yea! She could count some too now! "Sen..ju Tobirama.. was skarred in ma..many, um, inspects of.."

"Thank you, that will be enough. Now, someone who can actually read…" Many children laughed at that. Narumi's face lit up full force in shame. It didn't escape her that the teacher was smirking. "Hyuuga Hinata, would you please..?"

Narumi sat down with her face in her arms. Already being treated terribly, and it hadn't even been a few days… It didn't matter, she was learning, and would learn all she could! They wouldn't treat her like that when she could read it all herself! Narumi decided that she would prove to them all that she could do it!

It didn't matter if she couldn't, Narumi listened intently to her new friend reading for the information. She would learn, get better, and prove herself!

Narumi determinedly decided she would show them all!

* * *

Two pairs of slitted eyes suddenly shot open.

"WHAT?!" "WHY?!"

They quickly turned frantic as they turned towards one another. "What do we do?!" "I don't know! This wasn't supposed to happen!" "But it is! We can't just-" "I know! But what else can we do now?!" "..nothing." "...that's….."

Both saddened voices reflected the flattened ears and drooped tails. One could easily imagine whimpering coming from the children if they had seen such a sight. Conflicting fear and surrender of their situation was present. "Let's get dressed." "..okay."

Depressed, their sluggish forms were slowly covered by their unique Kimonos. A few hand-seals later had two foxes leaving the small living space.

* * *

Hiruzen landed in the middle of a flower field.

He knew of the location, but it had been years since he'd seen it. So much had changed, yet the beauty had never dissipated. Rather, there were many changes, and they all enhanced the magnificent view of it all.

In front of him was a tall cliff face. To his left, a decent sized waterfall quietly roared into a large stream, his right held nothing but a vast layer of forest, and behind him laid several meters of randomly coloured flowers obscuring the ground, just as it did in nearly every direction within the small field.

The serenity brought a smile to his lips.

A loud scream brought him from his thoughts. In less than an instant, the hardened God of Shinobi was in the treeline by the source. To his immense surprise, a blank masked shinobi was caught in a cluster of vines and branches from head to toe. Nearly every centimeter was covered in green or brown, even over the eye holes. "What..?"

"He followed you." "And we captured him."

The voices startled him. It was rare, nigh impossible, to catch him off guard, especially after such an occurrence as this, but they had. He wondered if it had to do with the amount of chakra the forest was bathed in. He turned to see the two girls from a few hours before.

Just like then, their fox ears tipped their head, and a single tail swished behind them. The only difference was the short kimono that ended just at their thighs. Obviously it was more comfortable for their tails, and easier to move around in. The eyes almost sent shivers down his spine with their accusing glare. They reminded him, oh so much, of the Kyuubi. Warmth, however, was easily found in the sparkling emotional eyes of these children, easily stating they weren't simply angry beasts like the demon was. But it was their terrifying resemblance to Uzumaki Narumi that was the biggest issue he had to overcome.

"I apologize, I had not known of my pursuer. The fact that I even had one is.. disturbing." He couldn't help but feel that it was more than simply coincidence. More than that, Danzo should have known not to be meddling in this affair, suggesting that he was most probably being tailed for far longer than comfortably imaginable. "I highly doubt he will be capable of escaping that, but to be sure.."

A moment later, the struggling within the mass was reduced to nothing as the Hokage stepped away from it. "Now, do you have someplace more.. private? I would rather not have another happen upon us."

The twins shared a look before hopping down in the middle of the flower field. "Down here is fine. So long as they are within this forest, and I am actively feeling, nobody can sneak up on us." "Not that it hasn't happened be-ow! I'm just telling the truth! Hina-OW! Stop it!"

Hiruzen had to stop retain his chuckles at the antics of the twins, one glaring while the other rubbed her arm. He'd call them triplets, but Narumi didn't have the same.. _traits_ , these two shared. But that answered some of his questions already. He stepped before them and kneeled just as they did, in a seiza. For some reason it looked uncomfortable for the two girls, as if they're not used to it. They probably weren't.

All joy died though when they turned distrustful eyes upon him though. As if they had already judged him for something. Confusingly, they looked as if he was closely familiar to them. That in and of itself was one of the strangest things he had seen, since it was impossible. "I guess I'll get straight to the point. What are you?"

The emotions that struggled across, he couldn't even place. Frustration, confusion, wonder, pain, so much was expressed. Even with the fact that the ears and tail on each gave away far more on what they were feeling, which only added to their eyes and expressions, he couldn't piece it all together. Hiruzen was getting more and more stumped at their reactions. Nothing was adding up. But then, there wasn't much there to piece together in the first place. Strangeness just kept crawling into the mix in every aspect thinkable…

""..I don't know."" Both twins drooping ears and lax tail showed truth.

And there answers a few questions while throwing ten times more at him. Hiruzen sighed, "what can you tell me then?"

After a moment, they reluctantly replied in reluctant monotone. ""We don't know..""

Piece after piece, the puzzle fills in as it expands. The Hokage was always one for patience, but this farce was getting ridiculous. Nevertheless, they were children. He would have to make some allowance. It was obvious they knew, but didn't want to share. "Are you unwilling to tell me, or do you truly not know about where you came from?"

One nudged the other, and emotions flared. Twitching ears, a frustrated tail flick. So many, so conflicting, so much turmoil in their eyes. It was truly heartbreaking that _children_ could feel so much. It easily reminded him of..

"I don't trust you." "I don't know what you will do if you know." "Not that I know much myself." "But what I know is that the village wouldn't," "doesn't, treat us nicely." "And you are the leader," "so either you allow it," "or you can't stop it," "or you simply won't stop it."

If not for the fact that they were right in front of him, Hiruzen would have gotten a migraine from the back and forth. They were practically reading each other's mind as they spoke. The same voice, same thoughts, same feelings. Truly twins in every aspect… "Are you talking about the hatred the village has for foxes?"

In an instant, pain, suffering, terror, anger, and so many more emotions rushed through the slitted eyes. It was much harder to read than a normal human's, but many capable of using chakra had strange eyes.

Cracking voices continued. "They treat us like _demons._ " "We don't know if we are." "But at least we don't attack others for simply existing." "And we don't know what else to do anymore." "I almost lost my sister last night…" "I-I don't wanna die just b-because I look like _this_!" Both were visibly crying, leaning against each other, with their tails wrapped around the other's waist.

Hiruzen couldn't possibly imagine the pain they were in. To have not only been called demons, but likely chased, attacked, nearly killed for simply looking as they did… He honestly didn't know what to do with them. They couldn't simply hide from the world. From their own words, they had been living here for who knows how long. But long enough to have felt the village's anger. Long enough to be deeply traumatized. If he hadn't had so much experience, Hiruzen knew he'd have had to take a few moments to steel himself. "How long have you lived in this village?"

"A-All my life." The blonde-striped redhead replied. The other nodded along.

"Do you know who your parents are? ..Where you come from?"

They shook their heads negative at the parents, but froze at the where. He was about to open his mouth, but was cut off.

"Do you know an Uzumaki Narue?"

Despite the resemblance to Narumi, he couldn't place it, and said so.

The looked at each other wide-eyed. It had been long enough that they knew that Narumi didn't use hair dye. They smelled it a few times within the village, but not once had it been on Narumi. And if the Hokage was telling the truth, they, she, didn't exist. Uzumaki Narue did not exist in this Konoha.

 _Is it a different Konoha?_

 _How could there be a different Konoha though?_

 _I don't know! But he didn't any dark feelings when he said it! He's not lying!_

 _I know!_

 _But how?!_

A cough broke them from their inner conversation, something that Hiruzen caught on to. How they were communicating he didn't know, but the shift in expressions as the twins were staring at each other told him more than enough. It wasn't just another gift. "Should I know this 'Narue'?"

He saw the depression about the two, and internally sighed. "..Maybe I could help somewhere else. You two obviously want to learn at the academy for some reason, otherwise you would stay hidden as you had been, rather than causing turmoil with your appearance."

Hiruzen ignored the odd looks, a mixture between an animal caught by sudden light, confusion, worry, reluctance, and wonderment. There were too many mixed in to actually place it all. "Instead of going as foxes, you could easily mix in with your fox traits hidden. It would be far less noticeable, let you be near children your own age, allow you to learn more, and stay close to your two friends."

Hiruzen watched them carefully. It may have been for the betterment of the village, but he also meant it. They would probably fare better in public view as humans hiding their traits than as foxes. Unfortunately, he saw more fear than anything, then sadness when they turned back to him. For kids, they seemed so mature… Almost as if they were double their age.

"We can't read or write very well." "The teachers would likely treat us terribly for merely associating with nee-chan, even more if we accidentally showed our ears or tails." "Which we can't always hide." "And we would probably be chased and attacked soon after." "We've seen some of what they do to nee-chan." "It's already getting worse with us closer, trying to help." "..And still you haven't done much of anything to stop it!"

Old.. he felt so old at that last statement. From sad to angry, he couldn't help but have been surprised at the last outburst. They were right, he could have at least asked the clans to try and meet with the Uzumaki, even if it was merely asking their kids to have playdates. It would have added to the suspicion, maybe added a bit more danger, but not more than what was already piling up. Even though he was trying to help by pulling these two into it, they knew it wouldn't, couldn't, be done so easily. He knew it was their instincts telling them they couldn't. Still, they were too valuable to Konoha to simply allow to roam free…

""We still can't trust you…"" _Hopefully we don't have to use the scroll again…_ They thought.

The accusation was even more clear now.

He knew what they wanted. They wanted Narumi to have friends. To be able to play with her. They wanted to be able to simply roam the streets without hate. Without the frightening possibility that simply having a fox tail would make them a target. None of which he could simply fix. Already, a teacher was attempting to sabotage Narumi. If they hadn't stepped in, who knows how long that might have gone on for. And yet, as Hokage, he couldn't just allow them to roam free unsupervised. Furthermore, he needed to assess their true capabilities. Have them studied, find the link to Narumi to ensure Orochimaru hadn't a hand in this, among many other various issues.

It was truly regretful he couldn't find out more from their own mouth. If he had, maybe he could have allowed them their freedom. But not being trusted, for a reason he was unable to handle completely, was obviously detrimental to procuring the truth. Hiruzen couldn't hand them over to Ibiki either. He'd need Inoichi. Maybe it would be possible to fix the trust issue with a memory replacement.

Hiruzen stared sadly at the twins. "I'm sorry, truly, but without telling me the truth, I simply cannot allow you to roam around freely anymore." With that, he lurched forward and grabbed both children around the waist, surprising them.

Both girls struggled in the tight grasp. "You can't do this!" "We haven't done anything!" "Without us, Narumi's going to be-"

"Enough!" Sarutobi Hiruzen shouted out, startling both kids. "I already told you, if you can't trust me, then I can't trust you. I'm sorry, but this has to be done." The struggling stopped, which actually surprised the Hokage.

"..Then we're sorry too." "But it looks like we really can't trust you." ""Goodbye Jiji…"" Both chorused out dismally.

The tone had already twisted his heart, but the final words nearly broke it as twin puffs of smoke exploded within his arms.

* * *

Sorry about the wait. I've been busy XD  
...Ignore the fact that spring break was last week.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

A brown haired chunin sighed in relief as he exited the building.

It had been several days since his interrogation. The Hokage had forbidden him to talk of anything he had seen, most of which he barely understood or believed himself. Had that fox really turned into a child? Had those children really had what looked like fox tails? And ears? But the whiskers… That was the most damning part.

He knew his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

From the start, he had decided to give in to the temptation of drinking it off. He walked into a shinobi bar. There were a few he knew there, but didn't really care. The stress of it all was piling up. He knew he shouldn't, knew that his lips would be loose on the subject, but he honestly couldn't care. The demons needed to die. If the Hokage hadn't ordered it, he would have brought all his friends in to tell them everything.

One of them having the Mokuton disturbed the hell out of him though. Had the demon taken possession of the child and stolen the most famous elemental bloodline? How had they done it? So many questions bugged him that insanity threatened him. He _needed_ that drink.

A short distance away, a blank porcelain mask was removed as it hopped off the roof and walked into a bar his target walked into. It would have been simplistic to simply abduct the target, but that was quite dangerous at the moment. However, the opportunity provided at the moment was too tempting to pass up. It was within parameters. The information may soon be recovered much faster, much easier than initially believed.

* * *

"Agh~ dummy teacher ignoring me again!" The child pouted.

The red-striped fox in her lap nuzzled her arm comfortingly. " _Sigh~_ I know Fuyu-chan. But even with Hina-chan's help, I just don't understand what he says!" This time a gold-striped fox nuzzled her side, before crawling into her lap. "Thanks, you two… I just wish someone would help me, ttebane~" She sounded out wistfully.

The foxes looked at one another, before speeding off. The redhead blinked at the sudden disappearance, saddened. Sighing, she laid down on her bed. It had been a few days since she had gotten her teacher replaced, and was making steady progress with reading, but it was still a long ways away. Hinata-chan and Ayame-nee had been helping her and her fox sisters at Teuchi-Oji's before they had to leave every night. She understood some, but so much was lost upon her.

Her sisters, she still didn't know how that was possible, were taking care of her however they could. It sent feelings through her heart that she never knew existed. Family. . . she wished they could come out in the open with her, but

A sound broke her thoughts. Looking to her side, she found her twin fox sisters had just hopped back through the window with what looked to be. . . "Books?" Narumi was confused for a moment before shooting rigid. "Did you just steal books from the academy?!"

They dropped the two small books in front of Narumi, then sat proudly with wagging tails.

Tears spring in Narumi's eyes. She hadn't been allowed to take them, and had missed the day they were handed out. Springing forth, she pulled the twins into her embrace, muttering thank you's. In another short moment, her arms felt heavy. Opening them, she found both in their human forms. "Huh..? But you never..."

Her brains on pause, she missed the two looking away towards another spot in the room far too intently, before grinning back at her. "We want to help more." "Those stupid teachers obviously won't help" "And are still trying to keep you from learning." "So we'll just have to do it ourselves." "Besides, we want to learn it too!" "And if the teacher won't help, then we can always make him regret it…" They smirked foxily.

Narumi giggled as she released the hug. "Thank you!"

"The Hokage also… knows now." "So we're going to do everything we can." "But we still don't want many people to know." "Stalker-san is okay, we think." "Both of them." "They haven't done anything yet." "Don't think they will either." "Besides, we're still clones." "So it doesn't matter, anyways." Their words still messed with her head, but she kind of understood. Some of it…

"Stalker-san? Two? Jiji? Huh..?" Narumi frowned, which was followed by her sisters.

"Mn! You have stalker-san over there," Fuyuna pointed towards a corner, but Narumi couldn't see anything. "We think there's another, 'cause they feel different between the day and night. Probably Jiji's mask ninja people. We've seen them sometimes, but don't really know." "And they like to hide…"

"O...kay?" Narumi still couldn't see him/her, but didn't question it.

Said ninja was sweating behind his mask. Both at the revelation of what the foxes truly were, and being pointed out. He could only hope they didn't try to actually make him show himself… He would have done more than simply hide, had they not said the Hokage knew, or that they were clones. The last one he knew was all too possible.

"Here! I found a good place to start!" Haruna called their attention to an opened book. "It's 'Chapter 7: Chakra Fundamentals'. We know how to use it, but don't really know what it is, dattebane~" She finished, abashed.

The other two nodded. Not every word was recognizable between them as they read, but with all three together, they could almost read everything aloud, which also helped to teach each other more words at the same time.

* * *

Hiruzen puffed another smoke ring.

For the past few days, he could only lament his mistake. There was a major opportunity to add two incredible assets towards helping his village. Through a simple assumption, he had instead turned them towards further distrust.

He had assumed that because they wished to meet him within their own territory, that they were the originals, instead of shadow clones. Instead, he realized, they simply wanted assured privacy. Further, they had even caught a spy.

Even so, he had to try. But he failed. Their relationship with the young Uzumaki was obviously more due to familiarity than anything, in all probability. He would have to work on that link if he wanted to make peace.

Still, their words, the information he had gathered, nothing made sense. They acted like he was closely held within their hearts, and yet their guard was up at all times. It wasn't simple by any means. They _wanted_ to tell him. But they didn't _trust_ him. Why? Fear. They were terrified of what would happen. Scared of his reactions. Frightened of what may happen. And he had gone and proved them correct to fear him..

A sigh followed his drag on the pip.

Finally, the door opened showing someone who had some explaining to do. "Danzo…"

* * *

Pink and Violet glanced at each other. Mirrored nods followed.

Walking out into the open, the forms of both shifted to a humanoid shape. They walked barefoot across the flowerbed until they were in the middle. Slowly, they turned to face each other. "You really think this will help us?"

"No… But I like the idea better than simply hitting each other. No matter what we do, the pain doesn't lessen. Withstanding it may have gotten easier, but our bodies are healing too fast, and staying too soft." The grass-grower replied, ears drooping.

The blonde sighed, "yea. I remember having calluses and scars. Everything hurts so much more now~ I hate it! Dattebane~!" Her tail puffed out, momentarily.

"Mhn. Besides, I heard it's pretty. Someone said it was grate. . .grace?ful. Yea. Stupid long words. We'll become more graceful this way."

"Oh~, was that Ino or Sakura that said it? They were always going on and on about skipping eating for diet, making sure they were as pretty as they could possibly be for jerkface."

"..I don't even remember? Hey, you're still kinda me! If you don't know, why would I?" She pouted, ears lowered.

"Uhn~ I dunno?" The ice girl shrugged, before straightening up. "So, we just go with it? I mean we don't know anything."

"Yep, make it up as we go. You remember that Kunoichi class where the teacher showed us. But instead of alone, we do it together. If we can dance with each other, without messing up, I think we'll be even better than her! 'ttebane~!" Haruna finished in hopeful awe of what could be.

"Uhm~ Okay, so how do we start?" She watched her twin freeze, tail included. "I guess I'll start moving, and you copy me? And we just avoid hitting each other? Or something?"

"Yea! We'll switch off too." The redhead nodded, tail wagging.

Fuyuna brought up an arm, which was quickly mimicked. Then she stepped forward, followed by a similar motion by the girl in front of her. She twisted sideways, so they wouldn't accidentally touch with her next copied motion. A foot moved, an arm bent, her body shifted to the side. Step by step, she and her sister started moving in sync.

It was slow, sloppy, had many odd shiftings that didn't match up well when mimicked, and overall quite crude. Their tails were making efforts to simply keep balance that the twins were having a hard time maintaining. All too often they had to pull back from a move, but that also brought a realization that those could also be considered part of the dance as well.

On and on they moved. Slowly, ever so slowly, their bodies came to a rhythm that neither could deny. Rather than simply mimicking, the girls were soon moving in true synchronization. Neither realized it, and neither cared. Movement was still terrible from an outside view, and many motions could have had them toppling over without having a tail to prevent such, though they did have a tendency to brush against the other twin, mostly against the other tail, causing even more pausing and flinching.

Anyone watching could, would, call the dance, if it could be considered such, awful. But the fact that the girls were moving as one, in ways that should have been impossible without knowing beforehand, could be considered incredible.

Still, as the seconds, minutes, hours passed, they were ever so slowly shifting into a softer flow. The twitching, pauses, and overall motions were disappearing. Movement that had needed to be undone were becoming far less frequent. Errors, if they could be called such, were being fixed on both the conscious and unconscious level.

Eventually they slowed to a stop. Not from tiredness, exhaustion, or time the had passed, but because their clones had popped. Blinking at the sudden rush of information, the twins looked around to find darkness filling everywhere around them. "Darkness?"

"..We danced… all day?" Fuyuna mouthed out in dazed awe.

"...Yea." She looked at her sister, then burst into laughter, which was quickly echoed.

* * *

 _*DING*DING*DING*CHING*CHING*CHING*SHWUUUU~_

A blonde woman stared in bewilderment at the slot machine that started pouring out money faster than eyes could follow. Her mouth parted as the pile grew and grew. Sudden chills wrenched her innards. Quickly, the twin-ponytailed woman scooped up the winnings and practically disappeared as she sped to cashout.

A short, dark haired girl blinked in surprise as the busty woman that was her sensei disappeared and reappeared in record times. "Tsunade-sama?"

"We're leaving Shizune. Now."

Her tone far too serious, the younger woman dumbly nodded. Just as they exited the casino, however, the luck bite had finally taken.

"Hime, we need to talk." A masculine voice simply seriously stated.

Cursing her luck, Tsunade turned with a growl, "What do you want…"

"...Let's go find a place to talk. I have news you need to hear."

For a few moments, nobody made a move, though Tsunade's scowl deepened. Finally she sighed, _at least he didn't say anything about going back_ there _._ "Fine. But make it quick. And you're buying!"

She stomped off, ignoring the releasing tension of the other two.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

* * *

"-at what is now called the Valley of the End. So devastating, the battle literally altered the landscape, forever leaving their marks upon the area." The teacher finished.

Narumi had listened intently, hanging onto every word of the boring monotonous sensei. He was not interesting to listen to in the least, but the content had captured her. Those people were so incredible that they had ripped the area to shreds! She wanted to become that strong, no, she _had_ to be even stronger! People would _have_ to stop ignoring her then!

The little redhead slowly raised her hand, "Sensei, you said Hashirama won, but what happened to Madara?"

"It was such a colossal battle, so intense, that statues were erected in remembrance." Said teacher ignored her completely.

Internally depressed at having her question ignored, her hand lowered back upon the soft ball of fur in her lap, flowing through it a moment later for comfort. The purring response rekindled the warmth within her heart, causing a smile to slowly drift onto her face.

She glanced to the side to see Hinata petting the golden fox twin. It had become a regular occurrence for them to bring the foxes to class. Rather, they came with her, and one would sneak into Hinata's lap. The other kids, mostly non-clan she eventually realized, had quickly taken to ignoring, making fun of, or bullying the two. Bullying was mostly against Hinata, while the rest were avoiding her. When together, they thankfully avoided both, giving her bluenette friend a reprieve.

Still, now that Narumi was no longer forced to stay out of the classroom, she could learn. Even when the teacher told the students to open their books, Narumi finally had her own to use! ..It would go forever untold that they were stolen. It was bad, but she reasoned that it was supposed to have been given to her anyways. And in the past few weeks, Narumi had even gotten far enough to make sense of most sentences! Many were unreadable, but the content added up into something that could be made sense of. Eventually...

Loneliness was still there. Pain evident whenever alone. But it was slowly dissipating. Her sisters - something that she still couldn't believe existed, and wondered if it were even true, but too similar to deny the fact - had broken into her heart quickly. Their actions had improved her life in so many ways. Narumi only recently realized she was more mature than others her age, having had to constantly be aware of her surroundings for her own safety, but still knew very little compared to them. But it wasn't quite what she thought, and eventually realized she had life smarts, instead of knowledge, and that she was just as smart as them, but not the same way.

No matter what others told her, she knew they were lies… she hoped. Not knowing who her parents were, she couldn't deny what they called her or them. Not knowing why she was hated, not knowing why she was ignored and avoided, so much that they told her could not be refuted. And so much of it she had believed. Only recently had she taken to thinking about it.

And only recently had she thought that maybe they were lying…

But what if it was all true? Why else would people avoid her? Hate her?

Was she a demon? Did her parents really hate her? Toss her away? Was she a bastard child?

The purring in Narumi's lap broke through the painful thoughts, crushing them, and throwing them out of her mind. It was a quiet, calming sound, with comforting vibrations that warmed her. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she had people who did care.

* * *

"...Hey, I heard a rumor a few days ago." A veteran genin whispered across the table to her friends, catching their attention. "That the _demon_ actually has a tail."

"What?! No way.. I've seen it!" A male with a chunin vest frowned in denial.

"Yea, but what if he hides it… What if the _boy_ is just making itself appear normal?" Another older genin reasoned.

"But the seal… the Fourth did it. He even said to treat the kid as a hero, right? Would he really mess up like that?" The chunin again refuted.

"Everyone messes up. _It's_ strength could have possessed it or something! Heck, I even heard that _the_ _boy_ is hiding it's true ears!" The first added.

Behind them, a few civilians had wide eyes. The whispers were quiet, but still very clear.

* * *

In the middle of a clearing, two laughing children were moving about.

Red hair fluttered in a manner that was eerily similar to the tail below it, giving off an impression that neither, or both, were not what they seemed. Only the clearly abnormal movement of the lower half of red gave any indication that it wasn't lifeless, as it swayed.

Across from this, golden hair flitted about in a fashion all too similar, nearly exact, to the opposing colour. Just below, another length of gold followed through, then swayed in fashion with its twin.

These two colours had twin lines of their opposite to add into their remarkable beauty. It was only an addition to the mimicked motions of their holders. Legs twirled around before one lifted on either side, an arm lowered to shift weight. A flowing balance easily marking the two as more than simply symbolic.

Slowly, but surely, the motions slowed. It wasn't smooth, without lumps, or unnecessary pausing, but the reflecting motions gave it a life that tried stating otherwise. A few more seconds, and neither body was moving. Then the tension broke as joyous giggles escaped.

It was far more interesting than either girl was willing to admit. It was such a simple idea to use coordinated movement. If their Kunoichi teacher wasn't such a.. yea, they would have to refrain from thanking her. But it was still something they found truly enjoyable.

"..he, hehe. I didn't know that doing this would be so much fun!"

"Haa~ I know. AH! It's getting dark already? Mngh~" Frustration welled up within the golden-blonde.

"Well, we can always play through the night, ya know~?" Haruna giggled, grasping at her blonde highlights, and twirling them through her fingers. They were obviously getting longer, and would need to get cut soon, if she wanted them to keep covering her whiskers. That would mean so were her sister's.

"Mn nn. We should go sleep. Just 'cause we don't need it, doesn't mean we should avoid it either."

The redhead groaned, "I know~ but still. And we've only practiced copying each other. I wonder what it's like if we did it with different movements, while trying to avoid each other."

"That would be incredible! 'ttebane!" Fuyuna squealed at the thought, as her tail echoed with its swaying joy.

An onrush of memories had the two blinking their slitted wide eyes in disbelief. "Did we just…"

"Yea, we did. aha-HAHAHA~" Soon enough the other joined in laughter.

"W-We, hah, made sensei ahaha, teach in we-w-wet un-ha-u-underwe-wear! Kyahaha!"

"A-And his hair! I d-din't know Narumi could do~ aha tha-at!"

Laughter and giggles resounded in the surrounded woods for quite some time…

* * *

In his years as Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen had seen many things in his life.

He had fought in wars. Seen his friends and family die. Watched as children grew up to be respectable people, albeit some with less sanity than others. Felt for his shinobi etched many a name upon the memorial stone. Smiled as another face was added to the monument.

So much time had passed. And so much has happened. The current situation wasn't even all that unfamiliar. But it had been years since a child so young could pull it off. Not all too much time, though, since it has occurred. But with who had caused it, Hiruzen could only fear for the future...

As such, he would not let up his stern gaze, which had never once been focused upon this particular child. It should never have had to. But it can not, will not, let up. No matter what kind of face he gets in return.

"...do you have anything to say for yourself, young man?"

"Hmph, can't prove it was me…" The child replied.

"I know it was you!" The tar-victim growled out, nearly snarling.

"You always blame me!" Pouted a little redhead.

"Of course it was you! Three times.. Three TIMES already! I demand his expulsion!"

"EHH~? You can't do that!" The 'boy' cried out. "You still don't have evidence to say it way me! ..Though I really do wanna, when you ignore me! But you still can't prove anything!"

The Hokage sighed, "Naruto, just because there isn't any proof, doesn't mean it wasn't you…"

"WHAT?! ..Everyone always sides against me." Narumi's face darkened in sadness, confusing Hiruzen. "Even when I wasn't even there, couldn't do it, people still don't believe me when I really don't."

 _That_ tugged a knot the Hokage didn't want pulled. He knew much of what the girl had to endure. The mobs, people trying to beat her, others attempting to poison her. It was only for a short time, but so much happened within a the few weeks between her birthday and enrollment. There was a reason why he had her pretend to be a boy. It would have been far worse, had he not been doing so from the start, ever since he learned the negative reaction the village had towards the innocent Uzumaki child.

Still, the elder kept his face straight, no matter what he felt inside. "Naruto is correct, however. There is no proof. It could have been anyone. Besides your. . . unique hairstyle, wearing wet underwear could have easily been a personal choice."

Naruto's teacher, a once bland male, growled again. His current situation was similar to the first prank that got the previous teacher in such deep trouble. However, this time, his hair was somehow styled into a spiky style, coloured in pink, and _sparkling_. "You and I both know the facts." He turned to the cause. "This isn't over…"

The other two watched him walk out, before Narumi burst out laughing.

Hiruzen chuckled along for a moment, before turning serious. "I would refrain from doing such. . . unique forms of revenge again. Some people don't take well to such acts."

"But Jiji, I-"

"No buts. Just because there's no proof, doesn't mean we don't know it was you. What you did is remarkably similar to your first prank, which we both know was you."

"...Similar, huh?" Narumi thought, ignoring the glare she received.

"Uzumaki Narumi." The redhead started at that. It was never good to hear her full name. "You will refrain from causing such trouble. I do not need you endangering yourself with such petty forms of revenge."

"B-But he doesn't answer my questions!"

"...I shall talk with him."

"That won't change anything!" Narumi indignantly refuted.

Sighing, Hiruzen simply shook his head at the overly mature child. She seemed closer to ten than six and a half, a fact that saddened him greatly. "Just restrain yourself, please."

"Hai…" Narumi nodded before dismissing herself out the door.

"The resemblance to her mother is incredible…"

The aging man jumped and looked towards the voice, "Jiraiya!"

"Heya, sensei. Sorry it took so long, I had to find someone that might be able to shed some light upon the matter." The white-maned man hopped from the open window to the sofa. "Now, please explain everything in detail."

Hiruzen studied his student for a few moments, then nodded, ignoring his worry of this 'someone'. "So long as you think this person can help, and can truly trust them to be discreet with even your most personal secrets, I'll allow it."

"You can trust her. Now, please explain…"

He had an inkling who Jiraiya meant. Still, Hiruzen didn't know if it was from from finally returning to Konoha, where his beloved student had recently perished, seeing a living reminder of the man, or simply just the situation at hand, but the seriousness Jiraiya displayed was slightly unnerving compared to usual. "..It started with-"


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

* * *

"So these four hiragana could be expressed by this Kanji. But it could also be these two, depending on the meaning, this one could be interchanged with this…"

Four pairs of eyes were locked on the page as a brownette flowed through symbols. On an on they went. Despite knowing some of this, the Bluenette still didn't know the harder Kanji. Thankfully, school books were mostly Hiragana or Katakana, which was quickly picked up by both unhooded twins, and a bit slower by the redhead.

They had quickly taken to using the upstairs living quarters of the Ichiraku's in order to continue their studies. At first, they simply did it in the kitchen after the rush hours. They would switch between helping and learning with each other. But when it upped to five girls, there was no choice but to simply have them overtake the living space upstairs, which had quickly continued, even without the bluenette joining in but once a week.

"Aya-nee, I have to go now…" Hinata mumbled, saddened by the fading light outside the window. She was thankful her father allowed for time away at least once a week. Though she didn't understand why, even when everyone else told her not to. Unfortunately, Ko was required to shadow her. It was only the fact that he was literally outside the door, able to listen in, that had kept from peeking with the Byakugan. She knew her friends would be discovered otherwise.

Though that was not a certainty…

She was just grateful the twins didn't care if he did. Something had changed recently, but couldn't point it out. It was as if they weren't trying to hide anymore. No, they were, just not from the people who shadow her or Narumi. It was weird that Narumi had someone following her too, an ANBU even, but didn't point it out for fear of reaction.

Ayame smiled, "okay. Just come back soon Hinata-sama."

Not liking the reference to her standing, she pouted, but knew not to say otherwise. Hinata stood, hugged her friends goodby, and proceeded out the door.

"You three should probably go as well." Ayame pointed out.

""Do we have to~"" The twins chorused as Narumi nodded along.

"Hehe, I'm sorry, but you do. Tou-chan will be finishing up soon…"

Narumi looked down, but quickly recovered. She hugged the older academy student, which was quickly followed up by her sisters. "We'll be back tomorrow, kay?"

"Mn" Ayame agreed as she scratched each twin behind the ears as she melted into their furry embrace. Narumi pouted in jealousy, then laughed at Ayame's expression, knowing just how the older girl felt.

"Okay, you two, that's enough!" Narumi said sternly, imitating her Jiji. The reaction was immediate, and quite unexpected, as both quickly pulled away and sat before her, ears and tail taut, and waiting. Narumi could only owlishly blink at the oddity, then giggled. Had someone treated them like that before?

Realizing what they had done, the twins quickly made a few hand-signs to transform into foxes with their clothes, quickly hiding any of the forming blush. It wasn't their fault that she sounded like their Hokage-Jiji when he was mad, and thinking about how to punish them.

"Bye Bye Aya-nee!" The three quickly rushed out the door.

"Those three…" Ayame could only shake her head in amusement.

* * *

"It can _what_?!" the girl screeched. The looks of her friends brought her back to reality, and she looked around, mortified at the outburst in the bar. Somehow, the entire place had quieted. That.. was quite embarrassing. She sat down red-faced.

" _Sigh~_ I _TOLD_ you to keep calm. But _no~_ , you had to embarrass yourself _again_."

"Sh-shut UP!" The embarrassed woman's blush crept even further. "But what you told me was more than simply surprising! Okay?!" She replied while trying to calm down. Slowly the bar picked up once more.

There were similar mutterings here and there, but neither were paying attention to them.

"You heard me right. The brat was supposedly caught transforming into a fox. More, he was caught looking like he was part fox, despite looking like a human. Ears, tail, eyes, everything. The whiskers just proved who it was…" He trailed off.

"You and I both know that's not true. Any nin can _**Henge**_ into something like that. Someone, anyone, in this village could pull off something like that. The seal was created by the Fourth, and he was better than anyone else of his time. Jiraiya, Kushina, maybe even better than Mito-sama."

He shrugged, "Yea, most nin have similar thoughts. It doesn't help that the kid apparently found the foxes that had been hiding in the Senju forest, and is keeping them as pets. But there are a few idiots who are too dumb to ask about it, let alone think about it properly. Whoever pulled the stunt is stirring up the nest. Especially the civilians from what I can see..." He glanced around.

The woman cursed, following his sight, and finally hearing the few talking about it around her.

"Yea, not good. If this continues, and the kid gets killed..."

"There may be another attack…" She broke out in cold sweat.

"And this time, we won't have the Fourth Hokage..."

They had to inform the Hokage.

* * *

Morning came once more. The twins each made a clone to brush each other's lengthening hair, as they faced one another chatting animatedly about what they could do to once more prank the teacher with. Getting dressed seemed more and more like a chore, restricting them, than protection anymore. They healed any injuries, nobody was around to see, and they seemed a little stuffy sometimes, with the length down to their feet. At least they only had to wear the longer kimono's out in public, and could switch to the thigh length battle yukata after making clones.

The twins made the usual two clones. They would head out, create their own clones that would split from them and head towards Oji's place, while the first two would head towards their sister's place. If only they didn't disappear when the originals slept, they would always have clones with, or shadowing, their sister.

They then did as usual, swapping into the Yukata. They were tailor made to fit, felt incredibly nice, smelled like flowers - obviously, did not retain water like normal cloth, and would last so long as they stayed near Haruna. If it was normal cloth, they would have likely forsaken wearing anything during the day. But wearing something so comfy, they only rarely complained.

Little changed over the weeks. Haruna's Yukata was a light Violet, while the Obi was yellow, both much closer to her colouring than before. The butterfly knot was slightly bigger, adding a little more to the cuteness, as it waved several centimeters out from the waist. Her Yukata was snug around her body. The sleeves were slightly loose around the shoulder, and widened to half her arm length at the fingertip. She had found black flowers that was used to create socks that ended just below her Yukata at her thighs (and to make panties as well…). She didn't bother with shoes yet, and her socks hadn't been pierced by anything she stepped on yet, so it didn't worry her. The hood was still similar, a yellow, matching her own golden-blonde and obi, acted like the top half of a cloak, wrapping around her upper arms and shoulders with a slight flutter around it, while the top had slightly better fitting ear holes that seemed like decorations.

Fuyuna's attire was exactly the same, just with her own colours. A light pink that matched her eyes, and a red obi that matched her own highlights, and similar black socks. Unlike her sister, though, she had a little trouble keeping the socks up. They just seemed to cling to Haruna, but not to her. She would have to figure a way to fix that, but she like them anyways. It was just the full length Kimono that they had to hide their tails under she was growing to hate. It smothered her fur, changed her balance, and just overall frustrated her. I was similar with her twin, but not quite so terrible, since hers clothes changed to accommodate her constantly.

Still, both agreed that the fluttering sleeves were something they liked. The outfits fit well enough, only needing to be adjusted slightly every few days for Fuyuna. But in the forest, they left the hoods within the burrow - what they had taken to calling their new home.

It was actually situated just behind the waterfall itself. Haruna had carved out a tunnel behind a large flower bush in front of the cliff that they could actually walk behind. From most angles, it seemed to be flat against the wall, but walk behind one side, and it was mostly a hollow bush, with a child-sized entrance on the other side, leaving the visible entrance as if the cliff was still entirely there behind it. Unlike the rest, it didn't go down underground, but simply curved slightly up and around to behind the falls, opening up into a several meter wide living space, filled with various flowers of differing heights, adding fluffy softness and squish as their bedding. It was only about half as wide as the falls, but still a meter or so above the water, and had a thin layer of pink ice behind it, nearly too thin to be noticeable from inside, while the outside still only reflected darkness that could be compared to the cliff itself. The ceiling had a thicker layer to add a light glow at night.

It was incredibly beautiful from nearly any angle.

"Come on Fuyuna~ Our clones left, like, an hour ago!"

"Hai hai~ you know my clothes don't just do what they want, ttebane~"

"Hey! So what if they do?!"

Fuyuna deadpanned as she finished tying her obi before settling the knot behind her. It didn't need an extra tie like most, since it was literally tailored to tie the way it was. "You know why…"

"Mou~ Just come on!"

Fuyuna let out a foxy grin and walked forth, hand-seals flowing as she did. Haruna stood there, blinking at the smoke left behind as her sister disappeared behind it, quickly scampering off.

Haruna frowned as it dissipated to reveal empty space behind it, then realized what happened, and ran on. "Fuyuna! Get back here! Agh! That was mean! Get back here!"

* * *

Jiraiya opened a frog-like eye. "I feel them moving. The clones are already out of the forest too. Both are much quicker than a child should be. Almost reminds me of Kakashi… Still, their chakra levels are far too incredible. Biju level for certain. I haven't faced one outside its Jinchuuriki, so I can't make any real comparison, though."

"Finally! The sooner we get the over with, the sooner I can leave this accursed village." The blonde beside him ground out, frustrated with the amount of time they had waited that morning for their 'targets' to leave whatever hiding hole they had been in.

Sighing, the Sage followed his partner's motions, standing up. "We need to move fast. If sensei's words are to be believed, they'll know someone is coming the moment we enter the forest."

"...Jiraiya, we're already in the damned forest!" Growled Tsunade

"We're on the furthest branch, pointed away from it, over one of the Konoha's streets." He pointed out.

"But still in one of the trees! Damn it Jiraiya, let's just get this over with already!"

Sighing, Jiraiya took off at a pace that would lead one to believe he simply disappeared. Not an instant later, the same effect could be said of his tree sitting partner.

* * *

Haruna and Fuyuna smiled as they faced each other.

This had quickly become their favorite activity. It was as if they could simply let their emotions flow out, moving to whatever music the forest was playing. The water in the nearby stream played to Fuyuna, while the forest charmed Haruna.

While they realized that every move they made could be replicated by the other, some were off for each other. Haruna felt slightly more rigid, while Fuyuna was a little more wild. Despite this, neither was unable to flow with the other. They believed that their mental link had something to do with their ease of flowing with their opposites movements, and the fact that both were twins, moreover having once been the same girl, had given them an even better understanding and ease.

Haruna's connection with nature tugged her in many ways. Despite their stiffness plants would grow however they wished, whichever way was needed, into a form they could best be constituted as.

Fuyuna's connection with frozen water was similar. It was stiff in the cold, but would flow into forms that would best allow it freedom to move where it was pulled. Ever changing, ever flowing, and then rigid again whenever needed.

They were so similar, and yet different in their own ways. Still, their motions flowed with such ease as they matched each other, they couldn't care, let alone pick up on such subtleties. Their minds, hearts, bodies, simply flowed with their partner as they started into a rhythm dance.

Still, their forms were sloppy, choppy, and twitchy. Their bodies were small, much smaller than their previous form where most of the fighting instinct came from. Even with their constant competitions within the forest allowing understanding on how their new sizes moved, most of their advanced motions had not been forgotten. Only the natural base had been fixed.

All this, however, stopped in an instant, causing both to comically fall into each other, landing upon the lively flowers that had been dancing along with the ignorant twins. In their shock, neither cared to move enough to do more than be capable of looking the other in the eyes.

"W-What-"

"Is th-that?!

"But so fast?!"

"How?!"

"B-But they're-"

"Headed H-"

Before anything more could escape, both twins realized they were floating in the air, unceremoniously lifted by the back of the Yukata collar, and no longer facing each other, but a pretty blonde with twin ponytails tied at the base of her neck, a strange diamond upon her forehead, and a big.. large.. _ginormous_ bust.

""Huh?"" they echoed with opened mouths.

"Interesting…" The woman said, forefinger and thumb holding her chin, moving closer to Fuyuna. "I wonder how they obtained their features. Their biology would make for some interesting tests."

""KYAAAAAAA~mphh~!""

Tsunade winced, but ignored the pain in favor of holding a hand over either twin's mouth, "definitely children… sensei wasn't wrong about that. No need for further confirmation."

Jiraiya ignored the trembles of the twin girls in his arm. Despite their screech, and his ringing ears, they were facing away at the time. What Tsunade had said though.. "Did you have to phrase it like that?"

Tsunade gave him a withering glance, but decided to ignore it, opting for further study. "If I remove my hands, will you refrain from screaming?"

Terrified beyond belief, the wide-eyed twins nodded vigorously. They didn't even realize that they had subconsciously withheld their innate abilities in instinctual recognition of the obviously more powerful adults.

"Good, now stay quiet." Tsunade moved her hands up, testing the side of either girl's head, accidentally revealing the hidden whiskers, ignoring their frightened whimpers, to the obviously not-human ears that had been shifting around on their heads, which had quickly taken to lowers in frightened submission. They twitched away from the almost gentle touch, but could do nothing as they were quickly rub-examined, they were definitely not being rubbed. "They do not possess Human ears, having obviously been reformed into a vulpine shape upon their heads."

She then looked at the puffed length of fur that had just shifted between the legs of the blonde, which was mimicked by the redhead a moment later. Her hands took to the appendage, which had tried to escape unsuccessfully, and floated her fingers through nearly every inch, all the way up to the base underneath the skirt of Fuyuna's kimono, ignoring the whines and whimpers.

"Y-You! Get away from her! I'll get you! D-Damn it, let me go, leave my sister alone! G-"

Tsunade shot a hand to cover the redhead's mouth once more as she shifted to her, examining her 'tail' as well.

Feeling the blonde trembling even harder, and the redhead's struggling shifting to a similar state, Jiraiya sighed. Their unexpected capture added with the unexpected examination of what could be perceived as sensitive places had obviously put them into a state that could end up destroying their psych if taken too far. "Tsunade, do we have to do this now? You're traumatizing them."

He didn't state the fact that they looked far too similar to his godchild, and that it didn't sit well with him to harm them without knowing all the facts yet. Especially since the woman had confirmed the reality that they really were mere children.

The woman looked up with a raised eyebrow, then looked at the twins who were whimpering with tears streaming down their faces. It was just so fascinating, but he was right. Still, they shouldn't have been crying from merely that much… "Fine. Let's go to the compound. We can figure out if they are truly related much easier that way."

Nodding, Jiraiya swung the children underneath his arms. They took off at a more normal speed this time. He almost felt bad listening to the girls in his arms. No, he really did feel bad, but he had more important things to worry about. He couldn't help but sigh when the blonde sobbed. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. Just a small cut in a moment to try opening a door, but nothing more than that." _Probably…_

He was thankful the trembling eased, even if only slightly.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 - !Warning!On!With!The!Show!of!Words!

* * *

"You sure you wanna do this? What about the Hokage?"

"Yea, we can't let it take over! The Hokage can sit in it for all I care!"

"If that _thing_ gets out, then it's all over! We have to kill it!"

* * *

"..What are you doing?"

"Looking for some weapons… I know there's a kunai here somewhere."

"I sold that weeks ago. Now could you get out of my room?"

* * *

"Excuse me, do you have any explosive tags?"

"Hm? Ah, sorry. I ran out of a few hours ago. Some sort of crazy lately." He scratched his head.

"I see… I'll take a few kunai then."

* * *

"Where's that damned sword at?"

"You know we keep it under the bed. Why do you want that old thing, anyways?"

"Ah? Sorry hun, just need to do something tonight."

* * *

"Hey guys, you gonna be ready tonight?"

"Yea, but are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Suck it up! That thing needs to die!"

"Ya know, the Hokage told us the fox would get out if the kid died, right?"

"You believe that bullshit?! He said that so the monster wouldn't have people randomly attacking it!"

* * *

"Hokage-sama", the long-haired chuunin bowed.

Hiruzen inwardly sighed at the required formality. "You wished to notify me of something?"

"Hai... it seems a devious individual has started a dubious rumor—several actually—are being taken far too seriously."

He cocked an eyebrow, giving indication for the woman to continue.

"People are talking about Uzumaki Naruto having the ability to transform into a fox. That he can manifest parts of the Kyuubi at will, visibly displaying the traits of fox tail and ears. Even going so far as to say he is either being possessed or has always been the Kyuubi in Human form, finally displaying the truth. They are not taking it well…"

Hiruzen was quickly chilled by the sudden situation. That idiotic chuunin had opened his mouth, spewing S-Rank secrets like they were common jutsu. His rage bubbled forth, frightening the chuunin in front of him with the sudden surge of killer intent, despite not being aimed at her. A quick signal brought forth an ANBU kneeling in front of his desk. "Get a team of ANBU to shadow Uzumaki Naruto for the day. And bring me that traitorous chuunin. I wish to deal with him personally…"

* * *

A single eye opened to stare at a team of shinobi bearing plain, unidentifiable white masks.

"Bring me the two girls known as Haruna and Fuyuna. Ignore the clones that work with the Ichiraku family, and the two that follow the Kyuubi vessel. They will either be within the Senju forest, or with the Sannin. Avoid confrontation with the Sannin or Hokage. You have permission to take out anyone else. Do not be seen, unless absolutely needed, and remove any traces if you are."

The mummified figure closed his lone eye and tapped his cane.

A soundless moment later, he opened his eye to an empty room.

* * *

Jiraiya sighed for the umpteenth time that morning as he set the whimpering twins down.

The four stood in front of large, seamless wooden gates. They were almost indistinguishable from the rest of the wall, but the engraved symbol of the Senju in the middle gave away its existence. The wall itself was easily several meters tall, while the two gates together were equal in width. Vines were growing up the sides in random areas, but had oddly stopped before crawling along the top, as if blocked.

"Hurry it up Jiraiya, I just want to get this over with." The grumpy woman turned away, avoiding the sight of an unavoidable event.

"Sorry about this, but which one of you is—nevermind. It should work for either." He took the blonde's hand, linking her to Tsunade and the possibility of Mokuton, quickly slicing across the open palm with a kunai, and pressing it against the Senju clan crest. Neither girl realized what happened until it was already done. Fuyuna yelped as the pain finally registered when her wound met wood.

However, before anyone could react, the crest glowed a soft green before shifting slightly.

Tsunade turned to it with wide eyes. "How …" She stared for a long moment before they moved to the gaping twins. A small moment of doubt passed when she caught sight of a blob of blood dropping from the blonde's hand. Freezing, Tsunade was unable to take her eyes off of it. Incredibly, before it even reached the ground, it completely evaporated into a pink mist—chakra—and dissipated into nothingness.

Once more, her disbelief could not be imagined. With the blood gone, it was amazement that held her captive. Another, smaller glob dripped. But this time the slug princess wasn't afraid. She was simply too stunned to react. It happened once more, turning into an evaporating pink mist.

The medic pulled the wounded hand to her, almost able to ignore the chill that came with the sight of blood, but the missing wound kept her rapt attention. "How ...?"

"Ehm, Hime, we can worry about that later. We should report to sensei…"

Tsunade blinked, realized what was expected, and scowled. If they returned to him, she wouldn't see the girls for days, if not weeks! She hefted up the frightened twins, pushed the gate slightly open, walked inside, and turned towards her friend. "I refuse. It doesn't matter whether or not they might be Orochimaru's experiments. True or not, they are confirmed Senju blood. Not even that Tenzou kid could open the gates, which gives me reason to believe that they are true Senju born, maybe part Uzumaki if the red hair is indication."

Wide-eyed, Jiraiya was too stunned by her reaction to react properly. It wasn't until the gate was already slammed into his face that the spell was broken. "W-Wait! Tsunade! We ha—"

Unfortunately Tsunade was already out of earshot while blessing Mito for her barrier skills.

* * *

 _S-She knows we're Uzumaki! What are we going to do Fuyu? What is SHE going to do?!_

…

… … _Fuyu-nee?_

 _... She touched me._

 _Eh ...?_

 _She t-touched me down there!_

 _It… was the tail only, right?_

 _Y-Yea... but_ —

 _Then it wasn't… it'll be alright. It was only the tail. I know it's uncomfortable getting our tails touched by someone we don't know, especially at the base, and its closeness to_ there _, but we just have to get away!_

 _Get away …_

 _Yea, just focus on getting away..._

 _Okay …_

Haruna could hardly focus on the sights around her. She could see and feel all the plants in what could easily be called a flower garden, but simply didn't care. Her sister was more important. She looked up at the stone faced woman carrying them like bags of rice. "Why?"

There was no reply. No reaction. Either the woman was ignoring her, or didn't hear her. Most likely the former. Haruna huffed, frustrated. She could see her ice-sister looking around intently, probably looking for a way out already.

Hearing the slide of doors, the redhead realized they were already at the doorstep of a large building. They were carried through sliding doors into a large dusty room, with several square cloths laid out in the middle.

"Hmph, it really has been a while …"

Haruna furrowed her brow as she was set down upon one of the thick blankets, her sister next to her on another. They seemed to be used for exactly this, if she remembered correctly. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen one before, but never had she used one.

 _Haru-nee, we'll have to dig out, or go over the wall._

… _Okay. We'll have to do it when the crazy-san is busy._

Tsunade sat seiza across from the twins, who were still slightly teary. Fuyuna more so. The older woman's frown deepened at this. Maybe she had taken her initial observations slightly too far. They were children, but they were still intelligent, emotional, and obviously had basic understanding of their bodies.

She continued observing the shivering girls, scared as they were, before they finally turned towards one another, as if randomly. Strangely enough, it almost looked as if they were conversing. Ears would flick, expressions would change, a tail wagged or straightened. It was quite interesting to the medic.

 _What do you think she wants with us?_ Fuyuna wondered, nervously.

 _I don't know, but it can't be good._ Haruna frowned.

 _Didn't she say we had, um, blood of some kind in us?_ The blonde asked, confused.

 _Senju? Whatever that is, yea._

They continued on, wondering about what the woman wanted, planning possible escape methods, and anything else they could think of.

The lone adult in the room simply continued observing. Watching their ears twitching at the slightest noise, swiveling to better catch outside sounds. Their tails displaying obvious dread, mirroring the emotions visible on their face. Further than that, she could see they were indeed silently communicating, most probably telepathically. It was incredible, to say the least. Girls no older than six or seven were having a silent conversation most veteran nin couldn't even attempt.

This went on for some time before Tsunade finally felt the twins had settled, at least enough to not freeze in fright from her presence. "Now tell me, why do you have Senju blood?"

Both children let out a small 'eep', turning with a start towards the stern, 'no games' voice, shivering.

"W-What's a Senju?" The more red-headed, less traumatized twin started out.

"Figured this wasn't going to be easy" Tsunade muttered, before speaking up. "Who are your parents?"

"I don't know." "Nobody told us." "Even when we asked" "nobody could/would tell us who." They finished together, different very slightly.

Tsunade blinked a few times at the swapping they were pulling off. The twins were closer than most she had come across. Few, if any, could do the same. "What are your names?"

"Haruna" "Fuyuna"

"...Please don't speak at the same time." Despite saying that, she still caught them. "What about your family name?"

They looked at one another, obviously unsure. Tsunade knew this meant they had a family name, but didn't want to reveal it, or at least didn't know whether to reveal it. "Tell me, now."

""Uzumaki"" They squeaked out together at the stern, dangerous tone, forgetting their hesitance altogether.

"... Do you have any family?" Tsunade watched them switch a shaky nod and shake. Maybe trying to hide that they indeed did, after realizing they didn't want her to know. "Who?"

They shifted uncomfortably, and looked at each other again, scared at being outed.

" _Who_?" Tsunade growled out, obviously not caring for games.

"N-Narumi" "She's kind of our sister?" "We don't know in what way." "But she is." "Definitely!"

Tsunade was getting even more frustrated. The twins were confirming and denying almost everything they said at the same time! …They were obviously confused about it, and Tsunade finally realized they hardly knew anything about themselves! Her gaze softened at this revelation.

"You two … where did you grow up?"

"We've always lived in Konoha." "And inside the forest."

Inside ... they've always lived here? "Who took care of you?"

"Huh?" "Nobody?" "Why would someone take care of us?" "Or even want to?" "Everyone hates our kind." "Don't you know that?" "Anything to do with foxes makes people glare." "Even just whiskers, 'ttebane." "And we even have the ears, and tail, ya know?"

Tsunade couldn't believe her ears. These girls didn't just grow up alone, but also without paternal protection or love. Rather, they lived surrounded by hate of the highest order, and probably even had people willing, maybe even attempting to kill them around every corner. If it wasn't so terrible, she would have been in awe. Instead, the woman could only pity them… But how did they even know their clan name? They met the Uzumaki girl though, so they probably picked it up from her. It would explain their hesitation. But that one word ...

The Senju decided to ignore that for now. "Which one of you has the Mokuton?"

"Mokawhat?" "... Does she mean your ice?" "Unn ...? No, I think she meant the plant thing." "Ooh~"

Ice? Plant? Did they both have advanced elemental abilities?!

"Um, I can do stuff with plants?" Haruna hesitantly affirmed.

"SENJU TSUNADE!" A large chakra burst accompanied the roar, startling everyone in the room.

"Damn, Jiraiya-baka just had to bring sensei into this already …" Tsunade slowly stood and walked to the still open sliding door before stopping. Her head turned and pinned the twins in place. "You sit right there. Do _not_ move until I return, or there will be _severe_ consequences." _Just like sensei, a little burst of killing intent can do wonders, hehe._

They shivered at the terrifying woman as she disappeared from view. It took more than a small moment before they came to. "What was that?!" "I don't know!" "But Jiji just used it too!" "I know!" "Just ..." "Hey! We have to go! Now" "Oh! Yea … We really can't stay any longer, huh." "Just come on, we gotta go already!"

All it took was a short second later for the room to be empty once more.

* * *

Four blank masks observed a small confrontation from a distance, hidden a distance away in the treetop shadows.

This would normally be a very boring interaction, if not for the fact that Sarutobi Hiruzen, 'The Professor' and second God of Shinobi, was currently attempting to scold the Slug Princess, Senju Tsunade through the gates of the Senju Complex.

However, their attention was more importantly kept elsewhere. And for good reason. Mere moments after the Senju heir stepped out of her compound, their two targets had appeared. If they had more than the most miniscule of basic emotions, it would have made their day to see the two children trying to hop over the wall, and instead hitting the invisible barrier. An unfortunate end to their attempted escape.

It did almost make them happy, despite their near emotionless selves, when a hole was suddenly carved out by roots just outside the Senju Compound walls. Too small for anything more than small animals, but enough for a pair of foxes to escape through, which is exactly what came out.

A discreet hand signal brought the four to surround the foxes after they, incredibly enough, shifted into a humanoid form. They knew that the barrier should have extended underground as well, yet their targets had somehow tunneled through it, openly presenting themselves.

"You are to accompany us; your presence has been requested."

* * *

Let's get that countdown a stomping!  
Three chapters! Three days! Three to the end!  
Start with today's number Three!

...What do you mean countdowns don't stomp?!  
Who cares what you think! They stomp if I want them to stomp!  
Stomp a three! Stomp a two! Stomp a one!

Eh?! One, two, and three are already out?!  
….Count up? But an end is supposed to be counted down to!  
FINE! Stomp up to Twenty-Three!

We'll see how you like stomping that many times!  
And we have two more days with an added number to each!  
Don't come crying to me if you don't want to stomp to Twenty-Four tomorrow…

Okay, cray-cray time over! Thank You for waiting so long!

I know making my lovable, huggable, super-incredibly-fantastic readers wait was mean, but I promise it was worth it! The first Arc will be finished, posted, and ready for you all by Thursday! Please, please, save your applause for the after-show!  
..But you can review and praise all you want!

But seriously, Thank You, my lovely readers and reviewers :)

Especially thanks to two people who have helped me with ideas, editing, beta-reading, and whatever else I miss out mentioning. It helps so incredibly much to have people to toss ideas at, and have proof-read to help with mistakes. I might/might not mention them in 25, depending upon their wishes. I've never really been one to advertise...

ANYWAYS, write you all tomorrow!


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

* * *

The voice caused both twins to jump as they finished their transformation. Having been surrounded by the smoke of their jutsu as it dissipated, neither was prepared for the situation. However, these people were obviously nothing like the two from earlier.

"Huh?" "Who has?" The startled twins turned to the speaker, confused and on edge.

"... It is unnecessary to inform you" the obvious leader of the white-masks provided.

 _Not Jiji?_ Haruna questioned her sibling.

 _Doesn't sound like it. Besides, these people feel weird._

Yea, really cold. Jiji's mask people have animal faces too.

 _Run?_

 _Run._

""We refuse.""

Hearing this, the blank masked shinobi tried shifting their stances in preparation to apprehend them, but found themselves rooted to the ground. Literally. Looking down, they saw their legs wrapped up to their knees in grass, covering every last spec of black with tall greenery. It was unfortunate that they were spread just far enough apart that the girls had little trouble slipping between them.

They each pulled out a weapon, already moving to cut through the thick layer of plantlife holding them in place. However, despite their effort, a layer of ice hidden underneath and between the layers of dense grass and vines slowed any further effort.

"Nyaha~" "Later~" The fox twins quickly took off.

… _We really can't stay._ Haruna said, saddened.

 _I don't think so either. Those people weren't with Jiji._

 _Yea, and those other two were so fast …_

… _Hokage's place?_

… … _We have to get Narumi too._

Sighing, the twins took off towards their goal. It was something they had decided as soon as they met their 'sister': a way to escape if they were found out, just as they had before. They knew where to go. They knew what to do. They knew they had to do it.

Despite what their hearts were telling them, the twins knew otherwise.

They had to …

* * *

Narumi felt weird.

Walking down a populated street always left her slightly depressed with the way most people looked at her, talked about her as if she couldn't hear them, _avoided_ her like she carried a plague. It wasn't any different than normal.

Yet she felt that it was different. People were acting differently. Some who usually talked simply glared. Others who glared were smiling oddly. A few who simply ignored her were now looking and whispering so quietly that she couldn't hear what she normally could.

It wasn't like Narumi had ever bothered to remember the people around her, at least not those that didn't bother to get to know her. But, on some basic level, she did know how most of them normally acted. She just couldn't understand what was really happening, or why it made her feel weird.

Slowly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

The reddish fox in her arms shifted slightly in its sleep. The blonde fox walking beside her glanced around briefly before nudging Narumi's leg slightly, as if urging her to move a little faster, feeling as if the world was getting darker despite the brightness around them.

The redhead started getting a little more nervous, and despite herself, looked back. There were a few people walking the same direction as her, not that it was anything abnormal. A few more joined the direction she was moving in within those few steps. Some glared in her direction with a little more heat than usual, but most ignored her. The reactions all seemed much stranger.

Another fuzzy nudge against her leg told her to move faster, and ignore what was happening behind her. Not truly understanding what she felt, Narumi still became more and more nervous. The sound of walking behind her was growing louder, despite her attempt to break away from it.

The unsettled child just couldn't help shivering as more weight slowly edged itself upon her.

With a building, unnerving curiosity, she wondered what was happening.

* * *

A shadow escaped through a window from the Hokage's residence. It wasn't a strange sight normally, but that was only when the Hokage himself was within his home. Now it was simply a small ANBU squad that guarded the area. They never noticed the shadow.

 _I got it!_ The shadow appeared next to her red tailed sister within a small cluster of trees.

 _Still can't believe how easy it is to get the scroll!_

 _Hehe, no matter how much of a bastard he is, what's-his-face did tell us how to get in without getting caught. Probably could have done it without his directions, so long as Jiji isn't home, but still. Now let's get Narumi. _

_Yea. I really have a bad feeling, though._ Haruna frowned.

 _You mean how the village feels darker than usual?_

 _It's weird … Even when we, or even Narumi walks around, it gets darker, but not like this._

… _Let's hurry ,_ Fuyuna finished, jumping up into the trees towards where she felt her flesh sibling.

Haruna followed less than a step behind.

* * *

"What do you mean they're _GONE_?!"

The pigtailed blonde grew another tick mark. "Just what I said!" Tsunade hissed out, slowly raising her voice as she continued. "They left! Ran off! Escaped! All because you two dunderheads couldn't wait a few measly hours for me to confirm who they were! Jiraiya SAW their blood unlock the gate, confirming their bloodline, and yet you two _STILL_ couldn't allow me a bit of time with them before attempting to burst through the gates!"

The toad sennin looked a little more subdued, but their Sensei and Hokage remained stern. "You had your orders. Ignoring them, _defying_ them gives me good reason to come. Even if they are possibly Senju, you disobeyed a direct order within Konoha's walls." The Hokage sighed, "just help me capture them again, and we can all talk to them."

Tsunade humphed, but walked back towards the village. "They're probably headed towards Narumi; find her, and you'll find them."

Neither male understood how or why Tsunade figured that course, but decided not to question her on the matter.

* * *

Narumi was full on running her little legs off. _Why?! What did I do now?! Why is it always ME?!_

Stinging filled her eyes as she rounded another corner. No matter how well she knew the alleyways, there were people everywhere. It was okay so long as nobody saw what was behind her as she sped through an area. But once the rumble behind her came in sight, those around quickly figured out what was happening, and a few quickly joined in.

Yet she was still a child. Young, small, malnourished, untrained, and very much unable to truly outrun an adult, especially academy dropouts who had at least a little bit of training. Despite the horrific length of time she spent running, it was quite short in reality.

Narumi turned another corner to exit an alley, only to bump her head and fall back onto her bottom.

"Oomph! Hey, wa- heh, what do we have here."

The only thing the child saw when she looked up was the man's smile. No matter how much she liked to think a smile meant nice, she couldn't help but shiver. Then a hand menacingly approached her face. Time seemed to slow down as she felt goosebumps flood her skin. Her sight quickly blacked out, and she clamped her eyes shut.

"Gyaa! Get offa me!" the scary man howled in pain.

Sight returned as Narumi peeked from closed eyes. The smile was gone, and a blonde ball of fuzz was being tossed around as the now scowling man tried to shake it off his arm. The young jinchuuriki knew that Fuyuna would be fine, so she immediately tried to go around him, only to find that more people were surrounding her now.

She backed up into the alley again, away from the even more enraged populace. Even Narumi could tell that they didn't like the fact that a fox was attacking another villager. It wasn't even close to what had happened years ago when the Kyuubi attacked, but the relation was still there. A fox was attacking.

Turning around, her heart stopped for a moment. More people were entering the other side of the alleyway.

 ***POOF***

The sound brought her attention back to the fact that Fuyuna was attacking a man to protect her, and knew she had probably disappeared with the sound. Haruna's growl finally reached her ears.

Looking down at her sister-fox, Narumi could tell this definitely wasn't good. She had been on the receiving end of something similar before, but never like this. The hairs standing on end made Haruna look vicious, despite the cute nature of it.

Still, more people crowded in, and the red fox's fur seemed to grow in response. No, her body seemed to be growing. Narumi watched in fascination as the little fox's tail seemed to be thickening, and then the very tip looked as if it was splitting apar—

 ***POOF***

Narumi stared dumbly at the smoke. As did the people around her. It slowly cleared to display a kunai in place. She hadn't seen the attack, hadn't seen who had thrown it, but knew that both of her sisters were no longer there to protect her. A shadow brought her attention to the rooftops.

The words of the people around her didn't even register in the situation.

Not one, not even two, but _Five_ masked and cloaked figures were watching the scene. The problem was that the crowd was ignoring them completely. She saw one of them land in front of her after a person finally got too close.

"Disperse now, Hokage's order. The child is under our protection. Any attack will be cause for lethal retaliation." The female tone was faintly recognized by Narumi, but the world around her, the people glaring spitefully at her, kept attention away from the familiar figure protecting her.

After all, they weren't moving away, despite the warning.

She didn't even see it happen. Sounds all around her startled Narumi from the obvious hatred almost steaming off the crowed. One second her guardian was in front of her, the next had the woman - she sounded female - blocking a blade mere centimeters from the child's throat.

Fear, terror, horror, any and every emotion entered her being as the scared redhead looked down at the blade. Ever since her sister poofed, no, ever since she ran into that smile, Narumi knew she was in trouble.

Had it been a few months before, she might have calmly accepted it, but with the twins, sisters, _family_ , Narumi didn't want to die. Something to live for, people to love, people who love back, the human sacrifice didn't want her life to end.

More sounds of metal hitting metal brought her sight around to the alleyway opening behind her. Kunai were stuck into the ground a mere meter from her, where none had been before. Another figure was blocking the people from her in that direction too.

And yet, more clanging was happening. Up on the roof, one of the black figures was blocking invisible - at least to her - weapons from flying down at her. At least, she thought they were. Aimed at her or not, they were making the shadow guard fight. Worse, she could hear more from the rooftops, more from where she couldn't see. There were just so many more…

In her justifiable terror, the redheaded child quickly ran towards the obvious protection of boxes and wastebaskets that littered the sides of the alley. Her little legs moved as quick as they could, attempting to hide in a safer place.

Pain…

Just as she dove between the possible protection, pain blurred her mind. Narumi fell, instinctively twisting so the pain didn't hit the ground. She turned her eyes down to her stomach where a piece of metal was protruding from.

Maybe it was unexpected for the ANBU guarding her that she moved so suddenly, maybe it was just a missed attack, or maybe it was due to the overwhelming numbers that prevented the quintet from even properly retaliating. But an attack had succeeded in bypassing their guard.

Narumi put her hand on the metal and pulled. She knew her body healed fast, but it wouldn't if there was something there. But the pain… Her vision was already darkening, even as she pulled. Even as the battle around her kept flowing on.

Her vision finally faded as the metal left her flesh, though the sound of a smug voice left a cold mark in her mind.

"Finally, someone got rid of the damn thing."

* * *

"Haruna! Narumi's getting chased!" Fuyuna turned tail, finally pinpointing where their flesh sibling was again.

"EH?!" The blonde-striped redhead increased her pace, and hopped up onto the rooftop after her twin, now heading directly towards the biggest area of dark feelings, realizing where their sister was. "WHY?!"

"I don't know! But we need to hurry!" Need brought forth power that had laid hidden, dormant, in recent years.

Just like her twin, power crept into Haruna's body as energy peaked. A second tail erupted behind her, then a third. Tail by tail, energy, chakra flooded her body. Just like herself, Fuyuna's tails quickly parted into nine flowing lengths of beautiful power in front of her.

An instant later, the twins were already near the vile pit of emotions. Neither realized the overwhelming speed or power that had propelled them there, nor that the eruption of chakra they had both released was near instant despite how slow it seemed for either twin. They didn't care. Even though their chakra had drowned the entirety of the village, almost visibly pinging any and every shinobi and kunoichi within the walls of Konoha, Haruna and Fuyuna had no care to the consequences.

Because they were staring down at a bloodied Narumi, centered among the nauseating crowd.

* * *

Narumi opened her eyes to a strange scene.

"... A swamp? Isn't that what they call it?"

Looking left and right, the child could only wonder how she got there. She was standing upon one of the few patches of moss visible above the murky waters around her. Trees were littered around the area, poking up from both water and ground. Clouds obscured most of the light, enough to hide even the sun's location.

"But… how did I get here?" Looking around, Narumi furrowed her brows, before her eyes shot wide, tearing up in phantom pain. "W-What happened to the people?"

Back and forth, her hair waved as Narumi attempted to find the apparently nonexistent danger. Her sigh of relief was short lived as a distant splash reached her ears. It wasn't loud, but it was big, she could tell.

"... Hello~?" … No response greeted her. Frowning, the redhead decidedly trudged onwards, deciding to find who else was in the strange place.

* * *

Jiraiya's eyes bugged out at the vast power being emitted. Cold sweat ran across his skin. Unfortunately, no matter how much he wanted to see his godchild, even if he wasn't really willing to get into contact with her this early, he had to pass it up for the moment for this new threat.

"Jiraiya, Tsunade…" Hiruzen intoned gravely.

"I know, sensei. We were already prepared when we entered that forest. But this…" And it felt like two...

"It's the twins." Tsunade ground out. She didn't like the situation, but if they were out of control she would have to help stop them. "Don't harm them, if you can help it. They're innocent children. Whatever happened…"

"They feel like Bijuu Hime! We may HAVE to harm them!"

* * *

The ANBU watching the village Jinchuuriki knew they were in trouble.

Despite being given a brief of the village's current outlook, they hadn't expected so many so fast. It would be a misnomer to say that the civilians were a threat here, despite the fact that many were attacking. The attacks were slow, sloppy, and off target.

However, there were a fair few academy dropouts hidden within the crowd. While technically civilian, the village knew that they were usually genin level. Most still deviated to training their bodies whenever bored, and it showed. They didn't have what was required to be shinobi and kunoichi, but that doesn't mean they don't have at least some level of skill.

Those were few and far between, and more like genin civilians than true civilians. This fact was enhanced by the genin that were around showing similar levels of skill. Despite this, they were still on a level that could be treated as simple civilian annoyance.

Rather, it was the ignorant chuunin and simple minded jounin that were dispersed throughout the crowd that were trouble. It was unexpected that the village's own forces would help in such an endeavor, but not an unforeseen possibility.

Even with the five of them, ANBU level that they were, having more than a dozen for each of them was a little much in such a space. Even if the smaller area was more benefit to them, the few upon the rooftops prevented much of their endeavors to retreat or advance.

Worse still, an attack had already landed upon the child. It was too early to say anything definitive, but the child was likely alive. She had pulled out the weapon, and had a rate of healing that few truly knew about.

Her hopes dropped when another kunai passed by Neko and sliced open another wound on the young redhead's torso. It wasn't nearly as debilitating as the previous impalement, but still a dangerous cut nonetheless.

And yet her bad day worsened. An enormous surge of chakra a distance away broke everyone from the moment. Before the ANBU could even register the incredible chakra as an unknown, it was beside her, staring at the scene from above.

She couldn't help but blink in disbelief at two _children_ crouching on the ledge a few mere meters above her releasing such intense chakra levels. The fact that they each had nine long, fuzzy tails and animal-like ears - _fox_ tails and _fox_ ears - adorning their figures registered a little too late.

By the time the ANBU registered that they were identical in everything but colour and somehow linked to the Kyuubi, they had already disappeared. She still felt their chakra though, pinpointing it beside her, next to the bleeding child that she was assigned to protect.

Everyone grew quiet. Anything and everything that could make noise had suddenly frozen in place. It wasn't until she heard them speak that the purple haired woman knew she was in trouble. Even though she had felt their incredible chakra levels, they weren't particularly frightening.

Because she had seen them before.

"N-Naru..." "mi?" The twin fox children just watched the red liquid seeping from the bleeding child, who had far more than a slight resemblance to the two newcomers.

Rather, their presence was warm and comforting, despite the impossible vastness. But now…

Her breath was held in terror at the shift. At the glance towards _her_. Before they turned away.

"" **I'll kill you!""**

* * *

"Hello~" Narumi felt like she had been wading through the waters for hours. "I know someone is there! … Please! I don't know where I am! …" She sighed, but trudged on, despite the lack of response.

 _*SPLASHWU~*_

Her head whipped to the side, shoulder length hair fluttering in her eyes for a tiny instant. The sound happened for the umpteenth time, but only now was there something different.

A large outcropping of withering trees in the distance, dark and foreboding, drew her attention. It was a distance away, easily missed, but quite different from most other areas now that it was closer.

With renewed vigor, she sped towards the denser area. Step by step, meter by meter, the foreboding feeling grew, but it wasn't anything near as terrifying as the people that had attacked earlier.

She could still feel the pain, but it was ignorable here. It did slow her down every now and then as a small spike of it crashed into her, but Narumi didn't give in. She just didn't know what else to do, though, besides find the splashing.

Finally reaching the grove only enhanced the unease brought forth by the area. It was something different from usual, but not any worse so far. It was actually almost familiar.

Still, the darkness was disconcerting.

Narumi blinked and displayed a large smile, knowing her studies were really advancing if she could put bigger words to her feelings. Another splash brought her attention back to the darkness of the outcropping.

Despite the obvious deterioration among the grove, there was plenty enough density to easily cover the area is darkness, with just enough light shining through to illuminate a few paths. Still, they all seemed to congregate together.

So follow the path she did.

Deeper she went. Darker it got. Strangely, there were streams of red mixed among the blue streams that somehow flitted throughout the swamp. Only now did she realize that most of the red was focused here, unlike the blue.

She walked between another cluster of dense trees, but stopped when she heard not only a splash but what sounded like a lot of air being pushed aside by... something. Looking up brought into view that something: large, orangish red, and _heading straight for her!_

"Eeek!" Startled at the suddenness, Narumi fell backwards between the trees, just far enough back to be missed by the ginormous... Paw? And... "CLAW?!"

She scrambled backwards in the water a bit as it suddenly lifted away.

" **Kukukuku, what have we here? My jailor has finally shown herself?"**

* * *

One chapter left! But for now..?

We can snore this chapter away… Zzzzz


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

* * *

"...eh? EH~?!" Narumi's eyes bugged out as the shadow slowly came into view from between the trunks of two giant trees. A long snout, and enormous eyes surrounded by black that ran up into lengthy fox ears. A furry, burnt orange torso stepped into view. Finally, _nine_ long tails, each easily longer than the entirety of the creature's torso, slipped from the darkness. The tiny child simply stared at the incredible sight before her.

" **Kukuku, another mortal awed by my magnificence."**

Narumi's mouth hung open for a moment before closing. Blinking a few more times, she opened her mouth again, and paused. It took a few moments, along with a scathing scoff from the hundred meter tall immortal, for her thoughts to gather. "... Kyuubi?"

" **Obviously… Dumb apes are still slow in their thoughts."**

Narumi would probably have been angry, had she not been staring at him for what she knew to be several minutes. Not that she didn't give a little glare anyways; she _had_ been insulted. Still, this was a fox, like her sisters.

" **Are you still trying to glare me to death? I'll let you know now that it doesn't work."**

Was that… a joke? Narumi couldn't really tell, not particularly used to talking with many people. Most she knew were straightforward and nice. They rarely teased, and such usually had to be explained to her.

Huffing, obviously annoyed with the unresponsive infant out of his reach, the Kyuubi settled back down on his paws. The child was too young to understand much. Trying to impale her hadn't frightened the child, and crushing her spirit with KI would more likely decrease his chance of escape than anything else, if she survived whatever it was that was happening to her. He knew the girl was hurt, even if not mortally wounded yet. However, even if he did offer his power to heal, she likely wouldn't survive anyways. Rather, her death would be a means to escape. Giving her power would work against his favor...

There really wasn't much to be done. Passiveness was best for the moment.

Narumi still stared, though not nearly as long as before. She still couldn't help but wonder... "How long…?"

A large slitted eye reappeared from closed eyelids, along with a raised brow.

"I-I mean, how long have you been... Um, nevermind. Since I was born. Right… s-sor—"

" **A century."**

Narumi froze at the unexpected reply, before processing the unknown word. "A what?"

" _ **Sigh~**_ **A hundred years."**

"W-Wait! I haven't bee—I'm not a hundred!"

" **You are my third jailor within the confines of your filthy village."**

"... Huh." Narumi almost couldn't believe it. Even if she knew her sisters were kinda like the Kyuubi, the fact that he was the one that attacked her village, was sealed inside of her, and was the reason she was miserable barely registered. Having sisters that were part fox probably had a lot to do with it as well. But the fact that a menace to the village was being cordial…

"Well, that's not fun." Narumi pouted at the idea. "I'd hate this place too if I was stuck alone for a hu— centa-centuray. " She frowned at the misspoken word, but ignored it. "I really don't like this place either, but I don't think they'd let me leave even if they're trying to kill me now."

" **You're likely going to die once you leave the mindscape anyways. Time here is simply skewed with your current presence."** And he'd finally be released… Even if it would take a while to reform after the seal breaks down.

Narumi's head drooped. She really wasn't sure how to feel about that. For the longest time, it was almost as if she didn't care if she died. But with her si—

The Kyuubi's head shot up so suddenly, Narumi startled and fell over onto her butt, staring at the alert immortal. She almost didn't realize he was speaking out loud, though she missed the words at first in her surprise. The redhead was once more broken from her stupor when sharp eyes narrowed at her, only then scrambling back to her feet when she could both hear and understand his words again.

" **... I believe I'll help you after all. There is a power out there that is... similar... to my own. I wish to see these entities myself, and don't wish to pass this chance. As such, I will lend you my power."**

Narumi couldn't help but smile. She didn't know he could heal her, but maybe everything would be okay. Ever since she came to this weird place, she knew that it somehow wasn't real, and that the people were still attacking her. The sharp jolts of pain were telling enough for that. And she had deliberately tried not thinking about it. But now… "Thank you, Kyuubi-san! You know, my favorite creatures are foxes? My sisters... They're amazing, dattebane~. Maybe I could introduce you to them? We could all be friends, too! They have fo—"

" **Quiet, brat! Just because I'm lending you my chakra, doesn't mean you're my friend!"** A trail of red leaked out from the large chakra entity towards its host.

Narumi pouted, but did stay quiet. Apparently the demon was short tempered. She'd have to spend time with him or something, especially if she wanted to introduce her sisters to him. Feeling the surge of power, Narumi let it overtake her for the Kyuubi to do what it wanted. The innocent child didn't know why, but felt that if she resisted, he wouldn't be able to do what he had asked her for.

* * *

Almost instantly, Narumi came to. She could feel the wetness drenching her clothes. The hard dirt of the alley beneath her, stench of the air that wasn't there before, vibrant colours that seemed impossible in sharper vision, and screams breaking a deafening silence.

Her arms moved without her bidding, legs shifting to gather her body upright. Everything was out of her control, despite being completely aware; she even felt the tingling that had not only dulled the pain, but completely removed it.

Her head moved towards the screams currently coming from the crowd that had mercilessly followed her. Long, thin roots grew out sharply from the hardened ground, impaling many through their limbs, even as they chaotically scrambled away. Many unsuccessful attempts at escape led more into wounding themselves and others.

The two who were uninjured within the alley wore black cloaks, but they weren't awake either. Somehow or other, they had been knocked unconscious. A few large, blunted plant growths near their prone bodies could possibly be the answer as to how.

Looking up to the other screams, Narumi could see thin crystalline spears of pinkish ice flooding through the many higher observers from beneath. It was understandably surreal to the child, and her awed distraction so great that even if she wanted to, it would probably be impossible for her to retake control from the ageless entity currently commanding her body. Still, she knew that his time was limited, and could instinctively feel that if she didn't want him in control, he wouldn't be. Of course, it wouldn't be too easy, but not too hard either. Maybe if he used more power it would become harder though?

Narumi's eyes eventually found the source of the two elements that were attacking the people either attempting to flee or futilely retaliate. Even with many attacks successfully harming the two sources of incredible power, any damage quickly sealed up into flawless skin.

Her mouth unbiddingly moved, " **Interesting…"**

The Kyuubi itself frowned. It knew those powers. It knew that chakra. But it was different. It wasn't his. It wasn't stolen from him. He could still feel his Yang half, sealed away and impossible to retrieve as it is; it was still there. Even then, they felt like his other half. Yet it was completely theirs.

He barely missed the fact that silence once more reigned in the area, ignoring the moaning and groaning from injured bystanders. Many were staring at him/her wide-eyed. At least, the uninjured ninja and twins-of-his-power. Obviously, he ignored the mortals in favor of the twins. " **What are you?"**

"N-Narumi's alive?"

His focus went towards the golden one that seemed to have two red strips of hair, and two red tails. Tears were freely flowing from both children's eyes. Kyuubi him/herself frowned at this. They cared for his suppressed host. But they looked just like her too, except with his traits. He could tell they were not mortal. They had every indication of being of his power.

The other twin/girl of opposing colours nodded. "Y-Yea, but that's not her talking."

Narumi's body scowled at being ignored. Even if they had his power, neither were at his level, even halved as he was. Together they may, which was odd by itself, but everything about them was strange. At least they were not mere mortals, even if they were obviously still children. " **I do not like repeating myself."**

"A-Ah, Haruna. My name is Haruna."

Not any one of the three cared for the escaping shinobi, kunoichi, or civilians. The Kyuubi himself ignored their presence entirely, though the unbound fear coursing throughout the crowd as they ran from his easily recognizable chakra was more amusing.

"Fuyuna. We're, um, kind of—"

Kyuubi/Narumi scoffed at their nervousness. Of course he couldn't fault them for it in his presence, being less than he, but it was annoying. " **Get on with it! My time is limited!** "

"We're not sure what we are!" Haruna nearly shouted out.

The red slitted eyes of Narumi eyed them for a moment, ignoring the nod of the one called Fuyuna. They couldn't be completely clueless. " **Tell me what you do know."**

Haruna withered under the glare from her obviously living sibling. Fuyuna took over a brief explanation, not nearly as distraught and too happy to care why she needed to, which was no more than a few short moments long. They really didn't know much about what happened.

The Kyuubi himself, however, scowled deeper. Two insects had stolen his power from another dimension as they traversed to this one. He could see what happened, even if the entire situation had many extenuating circumstances. But it didn't happen to him. And if this other self from their dimension had allowed it to happen, then it must have been pathetic.

But the fact that they were about to repeat it was not something he would allow. " **I refuse to allow my host to subject me to such. Your plans would destroy me, and I cannot allow it."**

Narumi was mentally on the verge of tears. She could go with her sisters, and kill the fox inside her, becoming like them, or stay and be with the fox. But she didn't want it dead… not after spending time with it, even if it was only a few minutes.

The wide eyes of her sisters were reflecting that they didn't either, and were completely uncertain about what to do. A sudden sharpness to their eyes caught her off guard when their words brought her back to the situation.

Fuyuna's voice was cold as her ice. "They tried to kill her. We can't stay any more. But if we leave without her, she'll be attacked again. She'll be alone this time. "

Haruna continued. "What will you do? She's not strong enough to protect herself. The Ichiraku's can't protect her either."

Kyuubi scoffed again. " **If my host dies, then she dies. Then I'll be free for the first time in a century to do what I wish. I care not for mortal apes."**

Narumi suddenly burned with anger. He would let her die? Just because she was mortal? Simply because he was inside her? Even if he didn't get the choice, neither did she!

Kyuubi's control was unexpectedly cut. Almost immediately, all the heat in her body receded. "I'm going with you. He hasn't been very nice, even when I let him use my body to talk! Besides, he attacked Konoha, making everyone hate foxes, and our lives so painful!" Tears started spilling out as she almost sobbed.

A sudden burning pain thrashed throughout Narumi's body, nearly collapsing her. Her eyes lost the red tint as she started shaking, though her pupils stayed slitted. Thankfully control wasn't too hard to retain. Even his voice wasn't escaping the seal, despite the bits of chakra flooding her system in attempted takeover.

Haruna and Fuyuna saw this, but didn't know what was happening; just that Narumi was suddenly in pain, and probably from the fox. Neither had ever liked the thought of killing others. Even those that had attacked Narumi were only stabbed in the legs and arms, and hit over the head; though that didn't necessarily knock everyone out, since they could still hear groans.

Still, the Kyuubi wasn't willing to protect Narumi, and she apparently didn't like him much. The last choice, the original choice, and their favorite was still open. They could go, needed to go. And it would make their sister like them.

Haruna and Fuyuna were already in synch, pulling the Forbidden Scroll open when they felt others coming. The emotions made them easy to locate. Once more, the speed was unreal. However, there were three this time.

"Where is it where is it where is it?!" Haruna kept repeating, Fuyuna thinking the same as she waited.

Narumi's groan enticed the twins to double their efforts.

"I don't remember what it even looks like!" Haruna scrolled faster despite barely reading. She was the one truly looking, not even caring to roll up the other end. Of course, the frantic child didn't remember the seal's design all that well. When the scroll suddenly stopped flowing, her head jerked up to the blonde twin, glaring heatedly.

"Hands! We passed it!" Realized Fuyuna.

Haruna's eyes widened dramatically as she scrambled back through, Fuyuna pulling the scroll paper back into the roll to help. Soon enough, a seal with markings on either side shaped as hands signaled their success.

Fuyuna let her twin flatten the seal as she pulled her trembling sister over into the middle of the design. They quickly got into position, reading the hand-seal sequence once through before attempting to go through with it for the second time in their lives.

"What...?"

Freezing at the voice, both twins slowly turned towards the sound, eyes wide in fright. The large man that had captured them before was standing a few meters away, frowning. Two small, nearly unnoticed swish and thump sounds caught them off guard on the other side. Turning, they found that strange blonde woman and their long-time Jiji standing opposite.

Tsunade kept her eyes on the children, but easily made out the surrounding situation. "They took down all these people...? But still, why were the rest keeping their distance?"

Haruna kept her eyes on her Jiji and the blonde, who had spoken—what was her name again? Bidden by her twin, Fuyuna swung her head back to the long white-haired man, easily twice her height.

These people were strong, both knew that. They couldn't fight. But they didn't want to stay. Wouldn't stay, just to be used as some… whatever they wanted! A small groan brought them all to look at the redhead laying fetal in the middle of a strange seal.

 _We need time! Think they'll fall for what those white masks did?_ Fuyuna wondered nervously.

 _No, I don't that stuff will work on Jiji. Just put as much between them and us as possible!_

Hiruzen glanced at the seal, recognizing it barely a moment later. "W-Wait, tha—"

Haruna poured her chakra through the ground the moment her Jiji unexpectedly drew the attention of his former students. Many large roots quickly grew out of the ground towards all three Kage-level ninja, who jumped backwards, before many of them curled backwards into a dome above the twins.

Unlike the other two, Tsunade only barely avoided it, forcing her out of a slightly catatonic state produced by the smell of blood, though there wasn't much in her vision. Most of the carnage was behind her in the alley, and the little in front wasn't visible if not looking for it, with the roots and ice holding still inside the wounds, and concealing the sanguine fluid from her initial glance.

Likewise, Fuyuna swamped the area with her chakra, drawing up unexpected amounts of water from the ground while simultaneously crafting more from her own ability to form a dome interlaced with the root system. More and more flooded the plants as they amassed themselves upon the ice, even as it continually condensed between, around, and over the vegetation.

Using what little light seeped through the barrier, the twins started flowing through hand-seals.

Outside the dome, the Toad Sage and Slug Princess just stared dumbly at the creative barrier that had been crafted in the short moment it took for them to land upon the ground again. It had only truly taken a second or two, but it looked incredible.

Hiruzen, however, was not so shocked by, let alone happy about the display. "Jiraiya, Tsunade, bring that barrier down! Fast! But don't harm the children inside!" He could do it himself, but his techniques would more than likely damage the scroll, and that was too valuable. More importantly, though, he couldn't let those girls use the seal he had seen; it would explain who they were, along with almost everything else he knew about them.

"All you, Tsunade-Hime" Jiraiya stated, admiring the barrier.

The slug princess huffed, but jumped forward. Using her incredible chakra control, and the ability she had long ago developed to give her the strength of a hundred in a single punch, she brought her fist down upon the cold crystal.

Cracks immediately flowed out from the strike, spreading throughout the entirety of the dome. However, despite their expectations, the barrier stood. Tsunade frowned, easily ignoring the startled and serious faces of the two males, already knowing why it withstood her punch. However, just as she brought her fist back down for a second strike, a strange mixture of light and dark from within the barrier caught her attention. It didn't stop her from finishing her punch, but it did startle her.

It took a third punch to completely shatter the ice on on her side, but over half the barrier still stood proud. The root system kept much of the crystalline structure together, using its slightly pliable nature to maintain a hold. And they weren't something she could simply punch her way through. There were many, and despite being interconnected, woven together, they were all completely separate. It was a simple, yet uniquely powerful creation. She was sure Jiraiya or her sensei could remove them quickly enough.

However, it obviously held her at bay long enough. For inside the damaged barrier of plant and ice harmlessly laid empty clothing and a scroll that was now missing whatever seal had been used. It had only delayed her for a few seconds, ten at the most due to the shock of withstanding her first blow, but it was apparently enough.

Even a child could flow through more than one hand-seal a second if they were practiced enough. Most genin could easily do three to five, sometimes more. No matter how many were required for whatever seal they used, they would have had more than enough time.

"We lost her… Them…" Hiruzen sounded old, sad, tired, aged, beaten.

Tsunade turned back to her sensei questioningly. Jiraiya was surprisingly serious and on edge at the statement. "What do you mean, 'lost them'?"

"... That seal was an unfinished product of the second Hokage." That didn't necessarily startle the Slug Princess, since her granduncle had many such seal within the scroll. "It was designed to send people back in time, but the physical aspect was unfinished. Only chakra survived the process. The body would be erased, and without a body, the chakra would be unable maintain itself, thus killing any who would attempt. However, if those two, who looked like replicas of Narumi, were any indication, a Jinchuuriki would survive, taking the place of the beast they held within. I won't guess specifics, but the Jinchuuriki seal likely has a direct relation to maintaining dominance of the Bijuu chakra. However, there was one more problem with the seal."

Jiraiya and Tsunade both were gritting their teeth at this knowledge and the implications, but waited for the rest patiently.

"A Kage Bunshin would theoretically make it, but it never did. The seal never worked properly, and Tobirama-sama never figured out why. Your grandfather joked that maybe he was sending his clones to different worlds instead. Of course, Tobirama-sama linked that to different Dimensions, ignoring his brother's joke altogether for the slightly plausible theory. And if those two Kyuubi girls were any indication…"

"We have two time-space-dimension jumping Narumi's, who stole ours away…" Jiraiya finished, in disbelief.

"... It fits, and is far better than the alternative. At least she's alive."

"I'm leaving" the woman abruptly ground out, specifically walking away from the sight of carnage behind her. She had seen many people up top hanging by frozen ice, but they weren't close enough and she sped past them, as she had with the others, without too much notice. In the alley, only one side truly had any amount of people, and the other was completely deserted, linking to an open street.

Tsunade knew her weakness, and knew how to bypass it well enough in combat situations. So long as she knew, and refused to look too carefully, she could deal with it. At least from a distance. Even if there was a scent to it, it was still bearable enough.

Jiraiya watched her walk away sadly, not bothering to stop her. He knew the people around him were in pain, but there were no dangerous injuries. He was at least thankful for that, as was his Hokage.

Hiruzen just continued staring at the half-destroyed dome shield. "Jiraiya, would you mind cleaning up this mess? It's been a long day."

Slowly, but surely, the Sage came to understand what they had truly just lost. Not just himself, not just his sensei, but even Tsunade, the village as a whole, and everyone around them.

He had lost his last true link to his student.  
Hiruzen had lost a surrogate grandchild.  
Tsunade had lost a possibility.  
The village lost a powerful asset. _Three_ of them.

They lost.

They lost because they were hasty.  
They lost because they were impatient.  
They lost because they acted with mistrust.

All towards _children_ that had been there long enough to cause trouble, yet simply kept to themselves, because they were foolishly curious and too suspicious of such impossible, unknown entities. They lost a child to their dark world due to inaction, action, greed, mistrust, desire, and so much more.

Another beautiful and beloved light was lost from their lives.

"... Sure, sensei. Take the week off. Spend it with your kids or something. I'll take care of things."

It was the least he could do.

* * *

~~~ Arc 1: Sisters: Complete ~~~

~~~ Thanks for: Beta Reading, Reviewing, Editing, Thought/Idea Creation ~~~  
~ Or some other various help of some kind ~

gaara king of the sand

Walk The Max Planck

~ On ~ With ~ The ~ Author's Notes ~

The lucky winner is Three!  
Third Day! Third Release! Third..!

Finality! I fluff my fur to you!  
For an ending to the first Arc!  
Be proud to witness such a feat!  
Now fluff to my writing prowess!

… Fluff!  
…. Fluff I say! FLUFF!  
…. My readers, _my lovable, fluffable, adorable readers_ ~  
WHY WON'T YOU FLUFF?!

… Fine! Be that way!  
Review my work instead!

Maybe I'll even fluff to those that do?

And now we move on to the real notations (and far away from my crazies)  
25 Chapters of fun, hugs, fluff, love, have finally come to a point!  
I have truly enjoyed writing this so far, and am still furthering it.  
As stated before, I do so enjoy reading your thoughts, so don't hesitate to review.  
Even if you think it's terrible, so long as the reviews are constructive, I don't mind.

If anyone has a theory, idea, or scene for this or that of any kind, I am open to explore the possible future existence of such. My kind (weirdos of reality and fantasy) do not discriminate.  
Whether it be correct in the political sense, or whether it be sexist, racist, socialist, marxist, realist, fantasist, incredulist, or whatever form of incorrectness the idea was designed upon, I shall at least look into the possibility of the idea's future addition to my story!

~~~ Explanations? ~~~ Notes? ~~~ Replies? ~~~ ?!Warnings!? ~~~

Yes, the !Warning! weirdness is just a pathetic attempt at a bad joke.  
One I will not, shall not, cannot explain. (Of course I can…)

Weirdness (I admit to it!) aside, I will be clearing up loose/open ends here.  
Most are obvious, but those that aren't, which I deem worthy (I am god!) of response, might or might not end up here. (Writer power, activate!)

~ Hinata ~  
While pulling her along would be nice, my story has no possibility for such. It is saddening with what possibilities lie in her future, but fear not! Ayame will forever be there for the poor bluenette!


End file.
